Upbringings
by Anniexus
Summary: When a planet’s life is extinguished overnight, the Enterprise is sent to investigate. It too disappears and Voyager must figure out what happened to Starfleet’s most distinguished ship and its crew.
1. Chapter 1

Title: "Upbringings"  
Author: Annie.  
Pairing: Chakotay/Seven of Nine, friendships all around.  
Rating/Codes: PG-13 (just to be safe), Action  
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek or these characters nor do I make money off this. I just borrow them for my own enjoyment.

Warning: Minor violence (nothing gory).  
Notes: This is a story set between "Endgame" and "Before Dishonor" (before Nemesis) with no other STV books in between (if you can call those books)… sorry, but I am a little biased in that opinion and am not likely to change my views any time soon. You don't have to read those to get this story. It's just my way of making sense of the way Seven's character has been butchered by other authors.

The stars shone pleasantly through the window as Captain Picard sat in his ready room. He was going over the reports Geordi La Forge had given him just an hour ago. They were standard reports, describing nothing of significance as the Enterprise had not gone through any battles or dangerous situations since their assignment began.

Jean-Luc sighed and ran his hand over his face, a face that seemed to grow sterner with fatigue. Momentarily giving his eyes a rest from staring at the Padd, Picard looked out his window to the surrounding stars and thought out all the worst case scenarios he could. It was a practice he had started some time ago as a way to keep his mind focused on the tasks at hand instead of the maddening boredom of endless reports. It also helped calm the mind when facing the uncertainty and dangers of space exploration.

The mission was simple. All the Enterprise had to do was go to the edge of the Beta Quadrant and discover what had happened to a developing planet. Two years ago, the USS Himalaya had found a small planet teeming with life and a developing population of humanoids. Starfleet had ordered the populace be left alone until proper resources could be spared to properly explore the sensitive planet. The Himalaya had been almost set to return when the crew received word that their trip was cancelled. Only a week ago a passing ship's scans revealed all that life had disappeared.

Sure, the mission was simple enough, but Picard had a bad feeling about it nonetheless. Picard's eyes trailed away from the Padd and stared at his desk while his conscience whispered to him in a constant litany, "Life doesn't just disappear. No planet has been sterilized, ever, especially not overnight." At least, thought Picard, not without interference. That was why Picard had immediately warned his crew to be ready and alert for anything unusual even though they weren't officially on alert status.

Riker's voice interrupted Picard's disturbed thoughts and drew him to the bridge. They were nearing the planet.

With the sight of everyone at their respective stations and ready for whatever might lie ahead, Picard felt minutely better. Deanna Troi gave him a tight smile and he nodded respectfully to her on his way to sit. Riker, on his right looked just as rigid as Picard felt.

As he placed his hands on the familiar, grey arms of his chair, Captain Jean-Luc Picard took in the sight from the view screen. In the velvety blackness of space and surrounded by white pinpricks of light from other planets and stars sat the now grey and brown planet.

He remembered the images he had been shown of the fruitful blue, green, white and yellow marble that had looked not unlike Earth just a week ago and spoke in a gruffer voice than he meant. "Report."

Riker glanced up from the screen of scrolling information in front of him. "No unusual radiation and so far we're not detecting any signs of a major disaster."

"No indications this was caused by a meteorite or large impact?"

"None."

"Looks like the scans were right," said Deanna. Her dark eyes were staring out the view screen ahead at the barren planet. "There doesn't seem to be a single -"

She was cut off as a large, brown object came hurtling towards them seemingly from nowhere. It was the size of a small shuttle and oval, moving towards them at incredible speed for something that seemed to have no propulsion system.

"Evasive maneuvers," Picard ordered and held on as the projectile barreled towards them.

The Enterprise ducked and swerved away from the brown pod-like missile just in time. She turned away from the planet and the engines engaged, but the missile turned just as quickly, hitting a nacelle.

The Enterprise bucked and rolled just as dozens of brown spatial rifts appeared. From them came more of the dark pods. They raced straight for the crippled ship.

---------

Even at 0500, the main offices of Starfleet were airy and filled with light, which streamed into them from skylights and large windows. Every office was decorated with the best desk and chairs, with the latest computer terminals and sparkled with precise cleanliness. Though the air was regulated, there wasn't a single office in Starfleet Headquarters that didn't have at least three plants on a desk, in a corner or on a windowsill.

Admiral Kathryn Janeway both loved and hated it. There was no denying that the offices were lovely, clean, and she never could complain of boredom. However, It was a far cry from being aboard a starship.

Though she wouldn't have given up her new commission for anything - 'Admiral' Janeway would always be preferable to simply 'Captain' Janeway - it was at times like these when she wished to be back out in the middle of space with nothing to worry about but her own little ship.

Grabbing her mug of coffee and a single, encrypted memo with a floor number and door code on it, Janeway left the spacious office. Her quick pace and grim expression were enough to clear a path in the sea of officers as she made her way down into the very bottom hallways of Starfleet Headquarters. The closer she came to her destination, the fewer people, computers and windows until she was the only thing or person in the corridors.

Though she knew where she was headed, Janeway had to remember to keep her steps confident and unfaltering. It wouldn't do to show her unease, but she had never been to this particular room before.

Ahead of her, a thick and solid grey door came into view. The two generic guards in front of it didn't give her a second glance as she keyed in her numeric code and bent over slightly to have her eye scanned.

Janeway had to take a deep breath to remain calm. The fact that this particular room had been chosen to brief the admirals indicated just how critical the situation was, whatever it was. The room itself was hidden in the deepest bowels of Starfleet and swept several times a day for electronic bugs. With only one door, no windows, one long table and a single console along the far wall for accessing Starfleet records, it was where the top leaders of Starfleet met to discuss the most ominous circumstances.

Admiral Owen Paris was already seated when Janeway stepped through the doorway. He didn't smile, but waved her over to sit beside him and together they waited until ten other admirals had likewise entered and seated themselves.

"Any idea what this is about, Owen?" she quietly asked, but he just shook his head.

"They wouldn't even tell me who called the meeting. Must be big for such secrecy."

Once the admirals were settled, a recording began to play. It was full of static and echoed in the otherwise silent room. Just when Janeway was about to ask what the point of listening to it was, a familiar voice spoke out of the static in spurts.

"-- card of -- Enterprise we -- help -- crash," said the distorted voice of Jean-Luc Picard. "There -- Starfleet -- many -- try -- infiltrate -- Starfleet -- help."

In the absolute silence which filled the room, Admiral Yates stood and addressed everyone. "We received this transmission only three hours ago from the Beta Quadrant where Captain Picard was on a reconnaissance mission. We have yet to hear anything more from the Enterprise or her crew. Scans thus far have shown nothing, not a single trace or particle to indicate where they were or where they went."

------------------

Into a small and dark apartment in San Francisco, a large cardboard box dropped unceremoniously to the floor. It rocked a moment, deciding whether to tip and spill its contents or stay upright. There was a faint sound of rubbing metal, but nothing broken. Chakotay stood above it a moment with his hands on his hips, breathing heavily. Leaning against the box, he looked around, an uncharacteristic and irritable frown in place.

For an apartment, it wasn't what Chakotay had in mind, but it was the best he could do on such short notice.

Despite being back on Earth for over two months, not all of Voyager's crew had settled back into the flow of things. Almost all the ex maquis were still looking for permanent accommodations, many having lost their families and their homes. Still, it wasn't all bad. They had been pardoned and even offered positions in Starfleet. Most had taken the offers. Chakotay, wanting to follow his preferred career path and love of learning, decided to take a position working at an anthropological dig site in Mexico.

Faint lines of light on the far wall outlined where the blinds didn't completely cover the small windows. Chakotay closed the door and crossed to the far wall. Opening the blinds, bright sunlight burst into the room, searing Chakotay's eyes and though it did nothing to make the piles of boxes and drab colouring more inviting, at least now he could see clearly.

Rolling up the sleeves of his tan shirt, Chakotay pulled a box closer and sat on one of the lonely pieces of furniture, which happened to be a grey couch in front of a grey coffee table. He snorted in amusement at the décor, which had come with the apartment. Neither the couch nor the table could have been any more reminiscent of Starfleet unless it had the insignia stamped on it. The cushions were hard and though he shifted in hopes, Chakotay couldn't find any spot that was even a bit softer.

Sighing, he gave up and reached into the box. Clothing and a few trinkets like pictures and glassware from his time on Voyager were shuffled around and pulled out until he thought he had everything strewn on the couch and table.

Assuming the box was empty, Chakotay tossed it to the side and reached for the next. The box slid across the floor and hit the door. A lone item inside broke with the unmistakable sound of shattered glass. Looking down, he saw that he had taken out only three of four wine glasses.

----------

The sunshine seemed to be mocking Janeway in her solemn mood, but she pushed her irritation to the back of her mind. Shutting the blinds, she thought over the extensive list of Starfleet officers and scientists who were being considered for the mission to find the Enterprise.

Janeway pressed the commands into her console which would allow her to contact two of the people she had insisted and the rest of the admirals had decided were best for the job.

----------

"Damn it." Chakotay slapped his knees and jumped up. He grabbed a garbage bin from a corner in the kitchen, frustration building in him. His frown deepened as he approached the door. He bent down and seized the box, fully intending to just dump whatever was in it into the garbage. The glass was already falling into the bin when something else caught his attention.

Hidden by the glass and almost completely under the folds of the cardboard sat a piece of paper. Curious, he pulled it out. It was a picture, a hardcopy of one of many the Doctor had taken. However, unlike many of the faux pas moments the hologram had captured or the downright boring images of spores, this picture was of Voyager's crew.

The picture had obviously been taken awhile ago when Neelix was still onboard and before B'Elanna had a baby bump. On an unbelievably beautiful tropical beach, during one of their very few shore leaves, stood Harry, Tom with his arm around B'Elanna's shoulder, Kathryn Janeway, Seven, himself, the Doctor, Neelix, and Naomi in front of him, all wearing casual and blindingly colourful clothing. They were all leaning against each other to squeeze into the frame, some of them even forced to put their arm around their neighbour. Their pant legs were rolled up to avoid the sand and surf, but every one of them was smiling.

A chuckle escaped Chakotay's lips as he remembered how Seven had argued against the flowing outfit B'Elanna and Naomi had stuffed her into. Pretty much the whole group had had to work to convince her that she did not need to spend the shore leave finishing up extra work. Janeway, though aware of the crew's need for shore leave, had likewise needed to be persuaded. With a twinge of bitterness, Chakotay thought of how similar the two women actually were. It was probably why they were friends.

The longer Chakotay looked at it, the more he thought that 'pretty' didn't cover how Seven looked in the picture. Her white blouse was tied at her midsection, contrasting with the bright blue of her skirt and undershirt. She looked like she belonged there, among the endless waves and rocks.

Chakotay leaned forward, noticing for the first time how she was forced up against him. His arm was around her out of necessity as Neelix had insisted he and Naomi wouldn't fit into the shot unless everyone bunched up. Despite how crowded it had been, they both looked comfortable. He smiled, remembering how she had felt against him then and afterwards on their dates.

Unbidden, the memory of his last meeting with Seven flickered through his mind and the smile froze into a grimace. It had not been pleasant and if pressed, Chakotay might have admitted it was the reason for his recent moodiness. Although he had managed to comfort her during the standoff with the Borg Queen, she had still called off their relationship after a few blissful weeks.

He attempted to tell himself it was for the best, that she was only trying to do what was best for both of them. Still, it had hurt and his heart felt just as broken as it had when she told him they were no longer a couple. He had argued, debating with her for hours, refusing to give in, but she was determined and in the end there was nothing he could do, though he intended to take up his cause again once she had the chance to calm down.

For exactly 55 days, they had lived as he promised, within transporter distance. Actually, they had lived in the same apartment and it had gone well, very well. He had divided his time between work and Seven as equally as possible and she had done the same. Chakotay had been happier than he could ever remember. By her own admittance, Seven had felt the same. However, their enjoyment in each other's company had eventually become inadequate for her.

The animosity of the rest of the quadrant had pressed on Seven. Even the Starfleet officers conducting the debriefings had set themselves as far away from her as possible and shown their ill will through their tone of voice and stiff body language. She had been upset after that, but a few encouraging words from Janeway and himself had calmed her fears for a time. Still, Chakotay was not blind.

The longer they were on Earth, the more obvious it became that Seven was not entirely trusted by either Starfleet or the general populace. Cold stares, angry whispers, and sometimes even shouting and jeers followed her wherever she walked. At first, it hadn't bothered either of them much. His only concern about it had been for her feelings. After awhile, though, it had worn on her nerves, making her feel as though she didn't deserve the good life and friends she had found on Voyager.

After Chakotay had a confrontation with a co-worker, she had begun to feel guilt. The conflict had occurred while Chakotay was at work, cataloguing artefacts. The colleague disliked the maquis and was angry at the Borg as they had assimilated one of his family members. He had started the verbal argument, which turned physical. However, it was Chakotay who had been officially and very openly reprimanded for the fight. Though he had tried to keep the incident from Seven, word of it had spread and made its way to her ears before the week was out. From then on, she had felt not just hurt at the comments and glares but guilt and fear for Chakotay.

She worried that him being an ex maquis and his alliance with her would work against him forever, that it would cause him more grief and regret as the years went on. At least, that had been her argument.

A quiet voice in the back of Chakotay's mind whispered another reason for her dismissal of him. She was intelligent, young and beautiful. How could he think he had anything to offer her that any number of other men couldn't?

In the end, Chakotay returned to the couch and put the picture next to the items he intended to keep out until he found proper accommodations. He had just opened the third box when the standard console began to beep from the corner.

He turned it on, expecting to see B'Elanna or Tom, his most frequent callers. Instead, he got a pleasant surprise.

"Kathryn!" Chakotay exclaimed, at once glad to see his long-time friend.

"Hello, Chakotay." She looked around him, noting the clutter. She smirked. "I see you've been decorating."

He smiled in good humour. "Funny, Kathryn, very funny. At least I plan to clean it up, unlike someone who just likes to leave their coffee cups lying around, waiting for people to find them."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Please, that was one time and I swear I didn't expect you to sit on it."

Chakotay laughed. "So, to what do I owe this great pleasure, Admiral?"

She smiled. "Oh, don't call me that. It still sounds too strange."

"You'll get used to it," he said, knowing full well she was already enjoying the sound of it.

"I suppose," she said cheerfully, but Chakotay could see her already switching to command mode. "I have some news from Starfleet. Voyager is almost finished being refitted and once she is, you have an assignment."

"Kathryn, I'm not a member of Starfleet. I'm a civilian now."

"I know, but these are special circumstances."

"Kathryn -- "

"Please, Chakotay. I trust you more than anyone else." She looked around him as though expecting to see someone. "Is Seven with you?"

Surprised by the assumption, Chakotay shook his head and tried not to let the pain show. "No," he sighed. "We're no longer together."

"Oh." This put a twist in her plans. Making a split decision, Janeway chose not to tell Chakotay that Seven of Nine might be assigned to this mission as well. If it had been messy and Seven was feeling particularly stubborn, she could always refuse to go. He still could. Neither of them were technically Starfleet officers and it wouldn't accomplish anything to get Chakotay prematurely upset.

Chakotay narrowed his eyes at the thoughtful expression now adorning the admiral's face.

In a moment, Janeway shook her head, dismissing her errant thoughts and concentrated once again on the task at hand. "In any case, I'm calling to give you the details of your next assignment."

"Kathryn, really, I'm not interested in working for Starfleet. I'm doing what I love."

"The Enterprise disappeared."

"What?"

"No one knows what happened to it." She leaned forward, the severity of the situation pressuring her. "Please, we received a transmission from the Enterprise. It was badly degraded and it's probably just a coincidence, but there was some hint of infiltration. Like I said, it's probably coincidence, but the other admirals are nervous and they don't want to rule anything out. Chakotay, I trust your judgment and I trust you. We need someone we can count on. We need you to lead Voyager into the Beta quadrant and find out what happened to them. Please, for me."

Her expression begged him for help. He sighed, resigning himself to this one last mission under the name of Starfleet. "Should I be prepared for the worst?"

"Probably. In a nutshell, the Enterprise disappeared from the Beta Quadrant a few days ago. According to long-range sensors, there is no wreckage, but there is only so much we can see with the sensors. Some theta radiation has been blocking our readings. It's as though they simply disappeared. We received a distress signal, but it's all just a jumbled mess."

"Any sign of Borg?"

"Not a single nanoprobe." Janeway drew a deep breath. "Chakotay, Pathfinder scoured the area, but couldn't find any sign that the Enterprise had been there. We're hoping the new shields and weapons being installed on Voyager will help, as will the armor plating. The Enterprise was supposed to be fitted with the new armor once it returned." She smiled sadly. "The USS Regulus will be going with you. Captain Silas has had a good deal of experience in the Beta Quadrant. He also happens to only a few hours from where the Enterprise disappeared. They're keeping an eye on the region until you're ready to go in. You and the rest of your crew will take Voyager from Deep Space Nine and meet them." In her Starfleet office, Janeway began tapping controls. "I'm transmitting all the information we have so far. All the details haven't been finalized, but it's a start."

"Do we have a crew list?"

"Not yet, but we're working on it."

-----------

In jeans and a blouse, bent over the back of a bench in the entrance to her aunt's house, Seven of Nine didn't look much like a new member of a Starfleet think tank or much like a Borg, despite being both. Irritated when her uncomfortable position yielded no results, she sat back on the bench. The sound of a paper bag being rustled in the kitchen reminded Seven of who else might know where her left boot had gotten to. "Aunt Irene, have you seen my…" Seven trailed off.

Her aunt's border collie came down the stairs with something black in his mouth.

"Your what?" called Irene from the kitchen.

"…boot. Never mind," said Seven.

She pulled her errant shoe out of the dog's mouth. There were teeth marks now marring the smooth black of the boot, but the dog ran off before Seven could voice her displeasure.

"Robert's just upset that you're leaving so soon," said Irene, as she came into the entranceway. "A week isn't enough time for a proper visit."

To back up her claim, the black and white dog followed Irene back to the front door and came to sit beside Seven, resting his head on her knee. His tail wagged as Seven scratched behind his ears.

Irene watched the exchange silently, already missing her brother's only child, and when she thought she might cry, she held a bag out to her niece. "It's some lunch for your trip," she said with a crack in her voice when Seven raised an eyebrow. "You're too thin, Annika. Probably from too much replicated food."

Confused, Seven looked down at herself. "The Doctor always told me I was in perfect health. I don't understand why he would neglect to tell me if I was underweight."

Irene smiled and simply put the bag in Seven's hand. "Never mind, sweetie."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Always punctual, Seven left her aunt's house on the small shuttle Starfleet had allowed her to borrow and arrived early at the orbiting station Starfleet had constructed specifically for the new think tank. The smooth metal of the station was a sphere in the middle and tapered out so that each end of it came to a blunt point. It contained some of the most powerful technology and minds in Starfleet. The bright red orb of Mars was situated just below it.

A young ensign met her at the transporter and escorted her to her room with a quick "This way, ma'am."

In an attempt to be polite, Seven remembered some of the mingling skills the Doctor tried to teach her. "So, have you been stationed here very long?"

The young man kept facing forward. "No."

"I understand this station was constructed almost a year ago," said Seven, but the ensign didn't reply. Thinking perhaps her statement hadn't really warranted a reply, Seven tried again. "Were you chosen for assignment here from a roster or did you request to come?"

He glanced furtively at her and though his eyes didn't make contact, Seven thought she saw something unwelcome in his expression. "I chose it."

"Why?"

"I like solving problems and I wanted to have a bigger hand in stopping the species who think it's all right to destroy others."

The venom in the young man's voice almost caused Seven to miss a step. Only her time aboard Voyager with B'Elanna's harsh manners allowed Seven to look unaffected. Though she raged inside from hurt and disappointment, she kept a straight face. "I see," she said.

Allowing her anger to control her would only enforce the young man's fear. So, instead she memorized the orders of the corridors, the location of bulkheads and computer consoles, and the numerous crew quarters. The maze would have befuddled any normal human, but Seven kept track of everything.

"Here we are, ma'am," said the ensign. He opened the sliding doors and stepped aside to allow her to enter first. Whether this was from politeness or a desire to keep his escape route open was unclear to Seven. He then handed her the bags he had been carrying for her, nodded and left.

Once alone in her room, Seven allowed herself to release her frustration the only human way she knew how. She sighed and wished to be back at her aunt's house where no one had looked at her as though she was going to suddenly attack. Her aunt Irene had been very kind, allowing her a place to stay until quarters aboard the think tank could be readied. Unsurprisingly, strawberries and chocolate had been plentiful.

Pushing her yearnings aside, Seven explored the small, four-roomed apartment. The kitchen was decent, as were the bedroom - fitted with a regeneration unit instead of a bed - and bathroom. The living room had a large window currently facing Mars. It was nothing special, but she had the whole day to unpack and add the 'homey touches' Neelix had always talked about.

She picked up the bag closest to her and set it on a table to unpack. It held a few tools, clothes and mementoes from her time aboard Voyager. As she carefully placed each of the items on the table, one object in particular caught her attention. It was a smooth stone Chakotay had given to her after their first date. He had found it on an away mission while gathering food. When he had presented it to her, she had tried to identify it, but been unable to. Her best guess was blue topaz, but his small smile belied the statement. It was a simple river rock, washed down from the slopes of an ancient volcano to the valley where the team had been collecting mineral samples. The clarity and smoothness of it had been from the years it spent in the river, being washed and buffed by the steady, crystal clear waves. Without knowing why she wanted it close to her, Seven decided to put it where she was likely to be spending most of her time, by the computer console.

As soon as she approached the console in the living room corner, it flashed at her. An urgent message had been sent and the caller was waiting for her to answer.

"Finally, I thought I would never get through to you!" The Doctor berated Seven.

She sighed at the interruption to her work-free day, but politely asked him why he called. And he, calming at finally reaching her, told her he had succeeded in his calculations for a new medical tool, but he wanted her to see him so he could have a proper test subject. He didn't notice how she covertly slid her hand holding the precious gift behind her back and out of sight.

"What sort of medical tool?" she asked. Her curiosity was piqued, but she had her limits when it came to being a test subject.

The Doctor beamed with pride. "I call it a neurological impulse scanner. It's five times more sensitive than any other scanner available and it's specifically designed to map out the human brain and detect whether the mind has been tampered with and what sort of thoughts the subject is thinking based on the part of the brain being used. With a bit more tinkering, I think it can lead to a lot more." He sat back, grinning. "I decided it was just the thing we needed after coming into contact with so many telepathic species and body-snatching aliens in the Delta Quadrant. I just never had the time to work on it."

"I see, but do you not find our other colleagues sufficient?" She knew the Doctor really just wanted to have his friend and pupil to keep him company again. Ever since leaving Voyager, she had been hounded by the Doctor. Though she forgave him for this selfish plea, she was still irritated by being called immediately after arriving, especially since she was technically not on duty yet.

"I have already tested the scanner on them and it seems to work, but I want to have a more complex brain to test. You can't get more complex than a mind augmented by Borg implants."

"No doubt," she said, only too aware of the implants on the inside as well as out. Luckily for him, he was too good a friend for her to be ready to disappoint him. Nor did she have a legitimate reason for refusing him, other than that she did not wish to be his guinea pig. "I will be there in a few minutes. I would like to unpack first."

"Oh, of course, Seven." The Doctor smiled and they signed off.

Exactly eight and a half minutes later, as she put the last of her pants away, Seven heard her console once again beeping. She didn't bother sitting down, choosing instead to speak to the overzealous doctor - for that's who she assumed it was - in a manner that would demonstrate her growing irritation.

"I will be there in a momen… Admiral, I'm sorry," said Seven as she turned around and realized her mistake. "I thought you were someone else."

Katherine Janeway smiled. "That's all right, Seven. So, how are you doing?"

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"Come on, Smith. I want to get these components delivered!" Miles O'Brien complained. He had been holding the supply bin for ten minutes and apart from being heavy, the components would have to be installed on Voyager. Not only did O'Brien not want to be late with his drop off, but he didn't want to miss dinner.

"Sorry, I don't know who organized these requisitions, but we can't do anything until we're sure where those have to go," said Lieutenant Rebecca Smith looking up from her data files. The scheduling for outgoing and incoming parts had been badly mixed up and she was getting as annoyed as she knew O'Brien had been when he first heard about it. Still, she had to make sure what O'Brien was bringing onto Voyager was what was supposed to be there and not some merchant's spare parts. She double checked her corrections. "Okay, it's good to go. The next batch of supplies is on its way and it's not one of the items on my danger list. Just haul it right in and make sure you check it off of the inventory. Crewman Jorell forgot to. I reorganized half the cargo bay before finding out everything was already delivered."

O'Brien swung the bin over his shoulder and headed down the corridor just as a swarm of crewmembers and merchants ran up and began complaining loudly to Lieutenant Smith. She managed to quiet them by handing them some files to look over and locate their missing cargo.

Rebecca sighed and thought about resigning her commission just as a tall blond carrying a Starfleet cargo container and a large suitcase stepped out of a far hallway on Smith's left. The blond was dressed in civilian clothes. There was something commanding about her, something that demanded attention. She was closely followed by the sound of a complaining man still making his way down the corridor, but the blond was turned away from Smith and didn't see her behind the crowd. The woman set down the bags and turned to wait for the man.

"They should have sent someone to meet us! Who knows how long we could have been wandering around this station. They knew we were coming and they knew we docked, but then we're left to find our own way through an unfamiliar ship! To think, Starfleet would call me away from my research to be a backup. I mean, what if they need a versatile doctor that can be packed up and sent where no one else can go? I am not a spare piece of equipment. I am a highly sensitive --"

When he stopped to take a breath the woman interrupted him. In a patient tone she tried to sooth him, "Doctor, I know you recommended yourself for this assignment. As for our present situation, it is unlikely they were attempting to offend us. Likely, there was a communication problem and our arrival was not announced."

The bald man, blushing slightly, wore a blue Starfleet uniform and was carrying a large medical kit when he emerged from the corridor.

Oh no! Rebecca felt the anger over the inventory glitch flare up again. She should have been there to greet the two members of Starfleet's newest think tank, but the earlier mess had wiped it from her memory. They had arrived earlier than the Voyager crew and she should have been ready for them, but had not counted on being backed up with unexpected work. She escaped the still chattering merchants and stepped up to them just as the woman continued.

"Besides, I know exactly where we are. I studied the layout of the station before we arrived."

"Seven of Nine and…" They turned towards Lieutenant Smith as she struggled to think of what to call the holographic doctor.

"Doctor, will suffice," he said inclining his head politely.

"I apologize for not being here to welcome you. We had a problem earlier and I had to take care of it," said Lieutenant Smith quickly and the two guests accepted her apology graciously. Seven lifted the bags again as Smith explained their itinerary and led the way to their temporary rooms. "Once we get you settled in, you can explore the station until your departure time."

As they made their way down the numerous hallways, Seven made the effort of making small talk and started a barrage of friendly questions, which were bemusedly answered by Smith, who had never seen anyone put so much effort into small talk. She had to admit she was a little put off by the metallic implants, some of which was covered with strands of blond hair and long sleeves, but tried not to let it ruin her judgment of the ex-drone. It wasn't as though the woman could help it.

They continued walking to the guest rooms companionably chatting. A few people passed them going the opposite way. Smith quickly learned to feel sympathy for Seven of Nine, who was drawing more than a little attention. Still, things went just fine until an unfortunate crewmember came rushing around a corner. He collided with Seven - who barely moved with the impact - and knocked the bags out of her hands. It was Ensign Cal, a man with a quiet attitude and little distinction.

"I'm so sorry ma'am! I…" he trailed off as he got a good look at who he had run into. Smith wasn't sure he could get any paler than he became when he saw the Borg implants on the straight-backed blonde.

"That's all right," said Seven.

He bent to hastily grab her bag, but she beat him to it.

"I can manage it," Seven said, not unkindly.

"No, no! It's my fault. Please, let me at least carry your bags."

"No, that isn't necessary," she said. She was trying to be kind, but Ensign Cal was in too much of a fluster to listen.

"I insist."

Seven raised a perfect eyebrow, as though studying Ensign Cal. It only flustered him more.

"I'm really sorry I ran into you… I mean, I didn't mean to knock your bags to the floor," he said nervously.

Smith would have laughed at him if she weren't afraid he would faint. She was about to tell Cal to just leave when it seemed Seven grew tired of arguing with him.

"Very well," she said in a clearly irritated voice and handed him the bags. They dropped to the floor like sacks of bricks. When it became obvious the crewman's strained efforts weren't going to get the bags moving Seven grabbed and easily lifted them. "Shall we continue?" she asked and brushed past the now blushing man.

Smith didn't laugh, but she and the Doctor shared a look and followed Seven. It's shaping out to be an interesting day, thought Smith.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Are you sure I can't get you anything, Commander Paris?" Quark leaned over the bar and waved a bottle in front of Tom's nose suggestively. "The night is young and I have a fine vintage of everything you could want."

Tom smirked, practically puffing out his chest at the mention of his new rank and replied, "Still pawning bad ale as Risa wine?"

Beside Tom, Lieutenant Harry Kim, also newly promoted and in charge of security on Voyager, shifted uncomfortably. No matter how much time he spent around Tom, Harry could never hassle anyone with confidence. It simply went against his upbringing; so he remained silent.

"I could get something from the replicators with more refinement." A Klingon bumped Tom from behind and grunted ungraciously. The crowded lounge was causing more than a few jostles.

"Me! Pass off ale as good wine! I am shocked you could think so ill of me. I'll have you know, my drinks come from reputable tradesmen who travel the quadrants looking for the most delectable flavours possible."

"I highly doubt anything you obtain comes from 'reputable' people," said Harry before he could stop himself. Another body elbowed around them.

The Ferengi bared his teeth. "Well, I have never been so offended! This…"

"Well, if you're just going to waste our time, then we'll take our business elsewhere. I know there was a Trill around here who was selling for half your price," said Tom.

Quark gave Tom a narrow stare and bit his lip. "Tal Batrax?" Usually he would have pushed a customer like Tom on this point, but someone really had been stealing a few of Quark's customers recently.

"Could be. I didn't catch his name, just how to get what I want at a fair bargain."

"I'll give you the Bajoran wine and two bottles of spirits for half price."

"Deal."

Tom paid Quark while Harry picked up the bottles. Harry had just gotten a grip on the last one when a female voice startled him from behind.

"Having fun?" Smith nodded towards Quark at the end of the bar, who had wandered down to the end to take care of customers.

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes. "Not really. I'm not much of a haggler." Unlike Tom, Harry really didn't want to spend half his night arguing with the bartender. Unlike Tom, Harry wasn't looking for something to fill the void an absent wife had left. However, with a new baby to take care of, it was not possible to have both Tom and B'Elanna on an away mission, especially one as potentially dangerous as this one, not that Tom really wanted to be on this mission, but Janeway had persuaded him. B'Elanna had raged about it, but in the end had been swayed by Tom insisting Miral deserved to have her mother nearby in the first few months of her life at least. An experienced replacement, Chief Engineer Fergus, would be taking over for her.

"Oh."

Tom grabbed two of the bottles from Harry and sidled back to the table where the rest of their group was waiting. Harry could hear Chakotay's rumbling voice teasing Tom.

"Am I going to have to drag my new second in command to sickbay before we even leave the dock?"

Tom chuckled and uncorked the bottle with a triumphant tug at the top. "Nah, just help me to my quarters after."

Harry decided to be polite and addressed the blond-haired woman. "You're welcome to join us if you want."

"Sure," she replied good-naturedly. "If you don't mind."

In reply, he led her to the table and offered her a seat. The rest of the Voyager group shuffled over to make room for her.

"I'm Harry, by the way," he said with a friendly smile.

"Rebecca Smith."

Within an hour, Julian Bashir and Jake Sisko who was admittedly quite interested in the famed voyagers, joined Tom, Harry, Chakotay and Smith.

"And you don't remember anything but the hallucination?" Jake Sisko leaned forward, all his attention focused on Chakotay. They were discussing some of the adventures Voyager had gotten into while in the Delta Quadrant.

"Not a thing. It all seemed so real that it never even entered our minds that we were being lied to."

Julian Bashir lowered his glass with interest caught. "Fascinating. Do you know how the creature created these hallucinations? Were they chemically induced or a telepathic ability?"

"We decided to leave the area before it tried to eat us again."

"Ah, of course."

"You know," said Jake, "we've had our own share of excitement here."

Across the table, Harry, Tom and Smith were huddled together to hear each other above the din of the bar.

"How did the upgrades go?" Harry asked Smith. Though she did not personally have a hand in the system upgrades to Voyager, she had mentioned that she had been briefed on the progress.

Smith sighed, "You know how these things go when you're in a hurry; very slowly. I heard they did a complete overhaul when Voyager came home."

"Stripped her down to the bone is more like it," interrupted Tom exasperatedly, slapping the table. His glass was nearly empty and it had already been refilled twice.

Mournfully, Tom remembered returning to Earth only to spend three hours in debriefing and be told that Starfleet would be ripping apart their beautiful, more than reliable home. And Voyager had been home to them, but to Starfleet it had just been a scientific curiosity. He remembered how smoothly Voyager had run when in the Delta Quadrant. Maybe it's because B'Elanna knew every quirk, he thought. Then he tittered, thinking of all the quirks she knew about him.

Smith ignored Tom's giggles. "Well, according to Miles - our chief engineer - it looks like they didn't bother to put everything back when they were done. There were a bunch of mistakes in the communication systems. Nothing had any major problems, but I wouldn't want to be in a tight spot with those kinds of errors."

"Everything sorted out now?" asked Chakotay. He had yet to obtain a complete report on the finished upgrades, just on what had been planned.

Julian Bashir laughed. "If you knew our Miles you wouldn't ask that. He'll overhaul your ship and won't stop until it works better than when it was first made."

"Good. I hope that means you fixed the replicator in Janeway's old quarters. She always said it was the cause of her ruined roasts," said Chakotay and the group chuckled.

"Good thing she was Captain Janeway and not chef," continued Tom with a more defined slur. "I thought Neelix's meals were a force to be reckoned with. She brought a Thai salad to one of Neelix's parties and I thought I ate…"

"Like you can cook any better than she could," chided Harry, smiling.

"What 'oes that mean?"

"The only thing you've been able to make well is popcorn."

"Not true!" Tom whined.

Trying to cover his laughter, Chakotay pressed his lips together and tried to look at something other than Tom's petulant scowl. It was then that Chakotay met with an unexpected sight. The Doctor, none other than theirs from Voyager, was making his way towards them from the lounge entrance.

"Doc," Tom greeted when the hologram announced himself. "What're you doing here?"

Pulling a chair closer to the table, the Doctor sat between Chakotay and Smith and explained with a proud smile. "We were recruited for this mission. Starfleet thought it would be a good idea to have two think tank members working on this."

'"We'?" asked Tom.

Julian knit his brows together. "Why? Doesn't Voyager already have a doctor assigned?"

"No one knows what happened to one of Starfleet's most decorated crews," said the Doctor smugly. "I'd say that's a valid reason to have as many brilliant minds working on the case as possible."

While the Doctor was talking, Harry looked around the bar. He noticed Quark had taken up a new interest and was ignoring a collection of customers waiting for drinks, but he couldn't blame him. A glimpse of the blond woman's left hand and he immediately understood Quark's distracted state.

"The Enterprise disappeared without a trace in relatively well-known space."

Cheekily Harry decided to tease some of his former crewmates. "Oh Tom, I think you'll have to find some new barkeeper to con you out of your weekly rations."

"What?" Tom looked around.

Inwardly, the Doctor smiled at how the DS9 crew was hanging on his every word. "Who better to figure out what happened than an experienced --"

Harry pointed to the furthest bar stool where the woman was being hassled by the Ferengi desperate to make a sale. The woman was shaking her head. Despite the perfectly inconspicuous clothing, she was drawing attention from the bar's crowd.

"-- versatile, holographic doctor --"

Chakotay hoped he wasn't going to say what he thought the Doctor was going to say.

"-- and an --"

"Hey, look!" Tom leaned forward and pointed past the Doctor's nose, towards the bar.

The Doctor scowled, but didn't comment.

"Hey," Tom shouted across the room and began waving. Harry smiled and waved as well, albeit in rather more dignified fashion than Tom.

In the back of his mind Chakotay knew who it was even before he looked up and he cursed Janeway for not warning him. The wide, familiar blue eyes still made his pulse speed up as he stared over at the brightly lit bartender station.

Harry and Tom waved again to Seven, oblivious to how their commandeered captain was staring at the former Borg. Her eyes met his briefly. They widened in recognition and she quickly looked at Tom and Harry instead. Even from halfway across the bar, Chakotay could see a faint blush tinting her cheeks. He wondered if Janeway had made herself matchmaker as well as an admiral.

"Hey, Seven!" Tom shouted above the din and stood. A passing Bajoran rolled his eyes when Tom's waving hand barely missed his ear.

Harry took advantage of Tom's distraction to move the remaining bottles of alcohol out of reach.

"Come on. There's plenty of room," said Harry, also trying to draw Seven over, but with a smile instead of the more exuberant display of waving appendages Tom was engaged in. Harry shared a smile with several of the table's other occupants. Tom was clearly a few drinks over his limit.

Finally, Seven abandoned the stool at the bar she had been sitting on in favour of the round table that the group of Starfleet officers was occupying. Despite the sudden nerves that shot through her at the sight of Chakotay, she would enjoy talking with her friends again.

Quark sighed, disappointed when he was left with an unsold bottle of something in his grasp. Watching her retreating form, he stared at her hands. "Pity," he said with a sigh.

Chakotay mused that she was probably joining them more to calm Tom down than out of pleasure. That hurt and it didn't help that she looked relieved when she realized the only place with room for another seat was between Harry and Julian Bashir, practically opposite Chakotay.

Seven felt Chakotay watching her as she sat down. Her eyes flickered around the bar and over the people at the table. It seemed as though everyone in the bar was staring openly at the silver metal above her eye, covering her hand, or the little spidery implant at her neck. Seven lifted her chin just a bit higher and ignored them as best she could.

Chakotay smiled at her, but it gave her only minimal encouragement. The endearment in his expression only reminded her of their relationship and the trouble he had been forced to deal with because of it.

Harry began questioning her about the Think Tank, but it was no use. She was getting curious looks from everywhere. The only people not staring at her were those at their table.

It quickly became apparent to Chakotay that one man sitting behind their table seemed more than a bit ruffled by her appearance. He could not make a guess as to which species the man was as he seemed to have characteristics from several. Deep brow ridges, a few scales and colorful patches of skin around the neck, which grew darker and darker the longer Seven sat with them, made him more than a little unusual. The man kept glancing at Seven, taking in each implant with a frown. Chakotay turned his attention back to his conversation with Smith and the Doctor, trying to ignore the man.

The Doctor noticed that Chakotay was watching Seven across the table. He leaned over and whispered to him, "I don't think too many people are used to seeing former Borg on Deep Space Nine and they've taken to staring."

Chakotay, sitting too far away from Seven, could only smile and whisper a reply to the Doctor.

Julian, was unsure of what to make of the ex-Borg. Still, he decided she couldn't be all that bad if the Voyager crew trusted her. "What will you be doing on this mission, Miss…"

"Seven," she said, giving him her full attention. "I will be assigned to astrometrics." She paused, thinking over her words. "Admiral Janeway explained that my presence was requested because the Enterprise's disappearance might have been caused by unknown astronomical anomalies. There has been evidence of subspace rifts, which may have been the cause of the disappearance. However, without more thorough information, we cannot say for sure. Besides, Voyager has some of the most sensitive sensor technology installed-"

"Meaning, it needs more skilled people to work it," slurred Tom.

An indulgent smile crept up Seven's lips. "Yes, as well as to interpret the data."

"And you have a lot of expertise in this sort of thing?" Smith asked.

"Yes, I --"

"Of course she would!" The man behind them had stood and was now a deep shade of red. Obviously he had been listening as well as watching their table. "She probably knows all about it. She's Borg!" He slammed his drink down on their table, spilling it's contents. He was practically breathing in Seven's face.

Bashir moved out of the way and glared up at the man, wiping the alcohol off his uniform. He and the others from DS9 watched the exchange, uncertain what to do. After all, they didn't know Seven and how she would handle such a confrontation, but they were willing to intervene if things got nasty.

At the bar, Quark stood with a rag in one hand and a glass in the other, wide eyed. Many others had noticed what was going on and were watching.

The members of Voyager, however, glared at the stranger and defended their shipmate.

"In case you hadn't noticed, she isn't part of the Borg anymore," the Doctor said.

"Right, and that's just fashionable jewelry." The stranger pointed at the metallic implant above Seven's eye, his finger an inch away from her face. "She's a murderer, a Borg drone."

"I was Borg," said Seven, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Are Borg," he said, leaning forward.

Chakotay stood, almost needing to bite his tongue to remain civil. "That's enough. I think you --"

"Tell me," the man interrupted, "were you there when they attacked 359? Did you watch them assimilate the children?"

Tom and Harry pushed back their chairs, Tom only slightly unsteady now.

Seven's back went even straighter than it usually was. "I was not a part --"

"No, but I bet you attacked others." The man was in Seven's face now and though she recoiled from him, she made no move to escape. "I bet you took more than your fair share of others, more families, more parents and children," he said, waving his hands dangerously close to Seven's face.

"Hey--" Tom and Harry moved to intervene, but Chakotay cut them all off.

"That's enough." He came around the table and using the threat of his larger build, Chakotay forced the man to take a step away. "I suggest you take your problems somewhere else."

The man blinked in surprise, but backed away from their table and it was no difficult task to understand why. Chakotay's fists were clenched, eyes almost black with anger. Rarely had he felt so much fury and never had it been over something a stranger said about an ex-girlfriend. The depth of his own emotions surprised Chakotay. It was an effort to restrain himself.

When the man was gone, storming out of the bar with as much dignity as he could muster, Chakotay forced himself to sit and maintain a neutral expression. That was made all the more challenging by Seven's reaction to his confrontation, so similar to the one that lead to their estrangement. Instead of looking relieved or happy, she lowered her eyes, looking as discouraged as he had ever seen her. He didn't regret standing up for her, but he still felt miserable for causing Seven pain.

There was an awkward pause as the table's occupants regained their former seats and tried to think of something to say. Harry put a hand on Seven's wrist and she leaned forward as he whispered something to her. Whatever it was, it made her smile shyly and Chakotay was at once glad for Harry's attention and jealous. He didn't know which made him more nervous, the unexpected situation or his unexpected anger over it.

---------

"You know," said Tom, "I missed this."

Harry and Chakotay smiled at each other around Tom. They were walking on either side of new commander, just in case he proved more intoxicated than they assumed.

"What did you miss?" said Harry. There was a sparkle to his eye and a boyish smile on his face as his friend wobbled slightly.

Tom quickly grabbed the arm Harry offered to steady himself. "Spending time with the gang." He smiled, knowing he must look a fool. "Remember Sandrine's?"

"Yeah, those were some good times," said Harry.

Chakotay chuckled, unable to keep it down. "You miss getting hustled by your captain and attacked by every alien in the Delta Quadrant?"

They were at Tom's door, which opened for him. "Yeah, I do," he said and stumbled in.

Harry shook his head. "I hope he has an analgesic in there."

Chakotay grinned. "Water and some sleep and he'll be fine," he said and turned to go, but was halted by Harry's sudden grip on his arm. He looked into the unusually stone-like face. "What is it, Lieutenant?"

"What happened between you and Seven?"

"I beg your pardon?" Chakotay felt the scowl come onto his face faster even than he realized what the question was.

"Come on, Chakotay. I would have to be blind or drunk not to notice. The way you were looking at her reminded me of how Tom used to look at B'Elanna and Seven was avoiding you like the plague. What was all that about? We all know you two dated for awhile. What happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, if that's all right with you, Harry." Chakotay began to leave, but was halted by Harry's next sentence.

"Fine, but you realize the rumours will be ten times worse and spread like fire."

Pausing, Chakotay wished Harry did not have such a valid point, and that he had shown more restraint in Seven's presence. Why couldn't it be easier to give up on a lost cause? "Fine. You're right. I might as well tell you before you start hearing ridiculous stories." Besides, getting things off his chest could help him control his emotions.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It felt strange to be taking over the rooms Janeway had once called her own. Luckily, the furniture had been changed enough that he didn't feel too uncomfortable.

The first thing Chakotay noticed was that he had a message from Kathryn Janeway from late last night. He touched the command pad and immediately Kathryn's face appeared.

"Good morning, Chakotay. I assume you're already on your way to Deep Space Nine so I can only hope you get this message before you meet your crew." She took a deep breath, steeling herself for an unpleasant task. "I thought I should let you know that Seven will be joining you. I confirmed it just an hour ago. She'll be arriving before yourself. Feel free to call me when you get this."

Chakotay activated the screen and sent a message back to Earth. In less than a minute, Kathryn Janeway's face appeared once again in Chakotay's living room.

Kathryn's lips twitched into an irrepressible smile at seeing her friend. Being an admiral with access to long-range communicators had its perks. "Good evening, Chakotay."

"Hello, Kathryn. It's good to see you."

"Same here." The smile grew and Chakotay thought he knew what was coming. "Did you meet your new crew?"

"Some of them," said Chakotay, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh?"

This time he frowned outright. However, it was more from irritation than anger. "Why didn't you tell me that Seven of Nine and the Doctor would be tagging along?"

Kathryn remained unfazed, but the smirk faded to an understanding smile. "I didn't know the Doctor would be coming."

"So -"

"And I didn't know Seven would be joining you until after you left for Deep Space Nine."

Chakotay quirked an eyebrow at her. There was a twinkle in her eyes still that he didn't like.

"Well," she shrugged, "I didn't know if she was actually going to accept the assignment, but I did try to encourage her."

"Mind if I ask why she's needed?"

"Chakotay, all the top minds in Starfleet have been going over the scans and last transmissions of the Enterprise. Needless to say, if one of the most distinguished crews in all of Starfleet disappeared without a trace and no one is able to figure out what happened, the best will be needed to figure out what happened." Kathryn gave a small sigh. "Like it or not, she has a brilliant mind and more experience than anyone with stellar phenomena."

Running a hand over his tired eyes, Chakotay grimaced. "I didn't say she shouldn't be coming with us," he said. He was well aware that their chances of success were higher with her expertise. "I just wish you would have warned me." As much as Chakotay liked seeing Seven again, it was a bittersweet meeting too soon after the pain of breaking up and he wanted Kathryn to know not to arrange any more surprises for him.

"I'm sorry," said Kathryn, having the grace to look contrite. However, it didn't last. She looked impish as she continued. "I promise, the next time I'll give you due warning."

Chakotay scowled. Kathryn just laughed, thoroughly convinced her decisions about this mission were right.

---------------

Day one.

The next morning came both too soon and too slowly for Chakotay. It was a strange feeling to be a captain on a ship he had never intended or expected to be captain of. Without Janeway, it didn't feel like the same Voyager and Chakotay wasn't sure he could or wanted to fill the void she had left. Everything on the ship had the essence of Janeway and their journey through the Delta Quadrant imprinted on it.

All the same, he entered the bridge to the familiar call of "Captain on deck," only this time it was for him. He paused to take it all in.

The carpets were clean, the equipment polished and the eyes of his crew were bright. Even the energy of the ship seemed more potent. Chakotay could almost sense the hurried movements of the crewmembers below the main deck. Yes, he could picture the engineering crew tinkering and rushing around the azure blue of the warp core. Voyager's newest physician, a Trill by the name of Dr. Jared Kal, was probably reading over medical files or arguing with the Doctor.

Captain Chakotay. The lives of his entire crew were entrusted to him. While staring around at the spotless bridge, it finally hit him. Captain Chakotay was him. These lives were his responsibility, if only for a short time.

Hoping the unpleasant feeling of inadequacy would pass, Chakotay headed to the captain's chair. All the eyes of the crew were on him. It reminded him of when he had to give a presentation in astronomy class. He had to stifle the urge to straighten his uniform.

There were new crewmembers at several stations. A young woman, an ensign, with dark brown hair and freckles had taken over ops. Chakotay recalled that her name was Ensign Sarah Volopolous. There was a new pilot as well, Lieutenant Ellie Horne, a petite brunette with hints of Asian heritage.

Chakotay's spirits couldn't help but lift at the joyful expression on Lieutenant Harry Kim's face. For a second it seemed like the old days. The excitement rubbed off on Chakotay, adding a bounce to his step.

Chakotay moved around Seven, who could have passed for a human crewman in her Starfleet jumper, if it weren't for the Borg implants. Unable to help himself, his eyes sought hers. For the first time since they parted on Earth, their gazes met and to his surprise, some of his excitement was reflected back. A smile, one he had never seen and could not entirely interpret graced her lips. The sight of it made something in Chakotay's chest feel lighter, the tenderness in the smile giving him steadiness and courage.

And just like that, he had descended the stairs to stand beside Tom. The poor man looked just as uncomfortable as Chakotay felt. Tom tugged at his uniform, attempting to straighten it, though there wasn't a wrinkle to be seen. For a moment they both just stared at their respective chairs, their seats of power.

They smiled nervously at each other. Chakotay clapped a hand on Tom's shoulder and was gratified to see some of the tension melt away.

"Never thought we'd make it this far either, huh?" said Tom.

"Honestly, no, I didn't."

Together they sat and faced the familiar view screen.

"All systems ready, captain," said Lieutenant Ellie Horne.

"Take us out then, Lieutenant."

-------------------

Day two.

The journey to where the Regulus was holding position just outside of the star system was predicted to take three days. From there, they would take about a week to get to the decimated planet, which Starfleet had deigned Beta 12. Normally, it wouldn't have taken that long to reach Beta 12, but the two captains decided to take extra time scanning the system as they went so they wouldn't miss anything. They were especially interested in seeing if the evidence of subspace rifts had anything to do with the Enterprise's disappearance.

Aside from reviewing information sent to them from the Regulus, the Voyager crew kept the hours from dragging by becoming properly familiar with the updated systems. Starfleet had thoroughly dissected the armour Voyager brought back from the Delta quadrant, melded it with their own defensive technology and added it to their ships.

A steady stream of people were in the hallway, mostly the lunch crowd heading back to work. Chakotay's stomach rumbled as though sensing it was getting nearer to food. The doors of the mess hall were in his sight and without thinking about it, he walked faster, joining a small group heading inside for a late lunch. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a traffic jam due to the number of people trying to get in and out at the same time and Chakotay was obliged to wait in line. Some of the crew nodded respectfully as he moved past them into the mess hall.

Ahead of him, a familiar flash of blond hair caught Chakotay's attention. He didn't want to shout so he waited until he could catch her attention some other way. They were milling near the counter by the time he could get close enough. "Seven." He caught her elbow. She turned in surprise at the contact and he immediately let go, smiling. "How are you doing?"

"I am functioning within normal parameters." Seven tried not to let her surprise be too evident, but it didn't work if the hurt on Chakotay's face was any indication. Guilt prodded her even as he teased.

"Good. When I heard the Doctor was joining you I thought there might be something wrong."

Despite herself, Seven smiled. "No, actually, the Doctor insisted he join the crew. He is certain that his talents will be required at some point during our journey."

"Ah, good to know some things never change." He indicated she should precede him in the line where Chell was handing out dishes and ladling out food. He was aware that she was watching him out the corner of her eye as they moved through the line-up and he decided to wait and see if what she would do. Would she run from him or show a desire for companionship?

They were at the end of the line.

Seven was uncertain what to do. On the one hand, it could give Chakotay the wrong impression if she were to spend superfluous time with him. However, she did enjoy his company. Even before they had started to date they had a few meals and conversations together. Seven took a breath.

A crewman jumped up from one of the tables and stopped Chakotay before Seven could so much as utter a syllable.

"Captain, I have a few things I wanted to talk to you about before we arrived."

"Of course, crewman." Chakotay frowned inwardly, but kept his outward composure. "What can I do for you?"

When the man finally left, happy to have gotten the information he wanted, Chakotay was surprised but pleased to find Seven had waited for him. Together, they found an empty table.

Only Seven noticed the looks they were getting.

They settled down to eat. Seven chose to question Chakotay, hoping to keep attention away from herself. "Are you still cataloguing artefacts from the Juarez site?"

"Until I was called in for this, yes. We found more evidence of that precursor god to Quetzalcoatl I was telling you about. So far we've found evidence of Kukulcan on almost all the top layers of the temple and the further down we go, the more we're seeing simplified versions of the same god. Actually, I wrote a paper about it."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"How far have you progressed in the digging?"

"We've made it down five layers so far, but I suspect there's a lot more to go."

"I admit, I was not expecting you to be leading this mission." Her gaze kept flickering to him.

"Neither was I," he admitted. "I didn't think I'd ever be a member of a Starfleet ship again let alone captain of one."

"Admiral Janeway asked you for a favour." It was not a question.

Chakotay nodded. "Kathryn said there was some hint of infiltration so they decided to choose someone a bit more removed from Starfleet."

Her eyes turned fully on him. "Are you planning to stay with Voyager once this mission is complete?"

The fork froze halfway to his mouth as he contemplated the idea. He had never asked himself that. As far as he had assumed, this was just a temporary situation. There had never been a desire in him for power or a leadership role. And yet, the idea was appealing. He was doing something important, something that held limitless possibilities. He could still explore the galaxy, study the various races and histories in it, but his ability and projects would be limited by Starfleet. Regulations and orders and everything else that had been a problem for him even before he joined the Maquis would still be there, still cause strain.

Seven was still waiting for an answer. He decided to be honest. "I don't know. I don't know what I want from Starfleet, if anything." He fell into silence, contemplating the pros and cons. Seven respected his quiet thoughtfulness.

"So, what have you been up to?" he asked after awhile.

"I was about to start my first shift on Starfleet's Think Tank."

"I had heard they finished construction. What's it like?"

Seven thought a moment about the impressive structure with its various labs and sterile atmosphere. "Clinical."

"What?" Chakotay laughed.

Seven chuckled a bit herself. "It is an impressive structure…"

"But it's not what you're used to or what you expected?"

She shook her head. "It contains the most advanced technology in Starfleet and is equipped to accommodate almost any experiment. There is no doubt it will serve Starfleet well. However, I did not realize how accustomed I had grown to a more intimate environment on Voyager."

Once again, they fell into silence as they picked at their food, uncertain what to say. Chakotay broke the silence. He spoke, his voice low. His expression was open and encouraging. It was evident he wanted them to get along.

"You look good, Seven. I'm glad you're doing well."

Her reply was so soft that Chakotay had to watch her lips to be sure of what she was saying. "Thank you, Chakotay. I appreciate your kindness to me." Her conscience wished to be cleared. She hesitated only a moment before confessing, "Socializing is proving difficult on such a large vessel as the Think Tank."

"I never thought I would hear you admit to being lonely." She dipped her head, self conscious to have admitted something so revealing. "Seven, I hope you know that you can talk to me any time about anything."

At the same time as Chakotay and Seven's conversation, on the opposite end of the room a group of five people were particularly curious. A Bajoran female, Lieutenant Iran Talana had pointed out the unusual pairing, but was now trying to avoid openly staring and now felt guilty for the moment of insensitivity. An Arcadian male, Ensign Gall and the Bajoran ensign, Ven Mallik, were trying to hide nothing. He practically gawked at Captain Chakotay and the Borg woman. The two humans, Ensign Mike Ramman and Ensign Sarah Lee were a little more subversive, only taking the occasional glance and only when it wouldn't be noticed.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Ensign Ramman asked.

"Why does it matter?" said Talana, stifling a groan.

"Come on. Aren't you the least bit curious?" said Ensign Gall. "Besides, don't you think it's at least a little unusual for him to be associating with her?"

"No." As one, her crewmates turned to her, their gazes challenging her to explain. "Don't you read? They were on Voyager together in the Delta Quadrant." She stabbed a carrot with vengeance. "Why wouldn't they spend time together?"

"She's Borg!" Ramman said, going red in the face. A few people from the tables around them glanced over. As one, Gall, Mallik and Lee shushed Ramman. He lowered his voice so that they had to lean in to hear him. "You may not think that's a big deal but it is to me. I know the Borg can't be trusted. I lost my sister to those monsters."

"Mike, calm down," said Lee. She took his hand, trying to sooth his abrupt and shocking anger. "Look at her. She's not --"

"She is," he insisted.

Mallik backed him up. "Once a Borg, always a Borg," he said. "Do you think that metal above her eye is just for decoration?"

"Of course not, but Captain Picard was assimilated and then disconnected successfully." said Talana. "And besides, I don't see her assimilating anyone, do you?"

"Not yet," said Ramman. "But does that even matter? After all the victims she's assimilated, why should she be shown favour, never mind trusted after everything she's done?"

Frustrated, Talana grew sarcastic. "So, you're saying the captain is cavorting with a Borg drone to do… what?" She rolled her eyes. "Or do you think they're working with the Collective to bring down Starfleet?"

"I don't know, but he is Maquis. Who knows what he's capable of? Besides, he doesn't seem like he's cut out to be captain."

"Will you keep your voice down?" said Mallik. He was looking to the side, watching as Seven walked past their table. She glanced over at them. Mallik and Talana met her gaze. They had the uncomfortable feeling the Borg woman had heard at least part of their discussion.

----------------

Day three.

Guilt was possibly the most unpleasant sensation Seven decided. It felt even worse than loneliness. Her guilt was also confusing. That Chakotay had to fight because of her caused guilt, but so did the necessary steps it took to end the relationship. Still, she would rather feel the pain of letting him go than force him to be painted with the same brush as she was. He didn't deserve a life of conflict, to have to constantly work with her to be more human, to have to give up career and friends and family just to satisfy her selfish desires. No, it was better to let him go, even if he didn't see the benefits of it right now.

She didn't meet Chakotay in the mess hall as they had planned. Instead, she stayed at her post, nitpicking on minor tasks and ignored her hunger. The crew was already questioning Chakotay's leadership because of his association with her. What would they have said if they knew about their romantic involvement? At least for the duration of this mission she had to avoid interaction with him.

----------------

The morning was dark as it always was on a ship in the middle of space. Despite the lack of sun and warmth, Chakotay woke happy or relatively so. Even as he opened his eyes, the memory of his time with Seven yesterday flooded him with hope. Their conversation had been stilted at first. It had been difficult to work up the courage to say as much as he had, but he anticipated the reward for his efforts would be success in the long run. Seven had even asked Chakotay to have breakfast with her today.

Chakotay's spirits were higher than they had been in a long time. So it was with anticipation and no hint of foreboding that he opened a written message that had been sent to his personal console. The header contained Seven's name, making Chakotay's expectation rise. Almost immediately his hope turned to ash.

The letter was short. It contained only a single sentence. He read it aloud, the extra time being needed to let the full meaning of her words sink in. "Captain, I will be unable to meet with you as planned."

He was disappointed, but not terribly surprised. Seven had a habit of getting close to people and then pushing them away. Still, he didn't understand what had changed. It bothered him more than he would have expected. It was as though Seven was sliding back into her old comfort zone of Borg-like efficiency and solitude.

It was tempting to go down to astrometrics and confront her right away and indeed, that was his first thought. However, Chakotay knew Seven well enough to know time and patience would be his best friend in this situation. Getting upset now would only drive her further away, even making friendship with her unlikely.

--------------

The mess hall wasn't full when Chakotay entered, but each table already had at least two occupants. His appetite mostly gone, Chakotay grabbed some fruit and a cup of tea and looked for a place to sit.

A table off to the side had four seats, one of which was free. He didn't recognize any of the occupants, but none of the people in the mess hall were familiar besides Chell.

"Mind if I join you?"

At once their already hushed conversation stopped. The ensigns and one lieutenant looked up from their conversation with surprise.

"Of course, Captain." The lieutenant, a Bajoran, smiled and gestured for Chakotay to take the empty seat. Her manners were shy. Chakotay wondered just how long ago she had been promoted to a lieutenant.

"Thank you." He sat down and immediately felt a pressure to speak, but didn't know what to say or how to say it.

Ensign Sarah Lee, Ensign Gall and Lieutenant Talana were likewise at a loss for words, not used to having a captain sit with them as though they were equals.

Being the only lieutenant in the group, Talana introduced herself first. "Lieutenant Talana," she shook Chakotay's proffered hand. "This is Ensign Gall." They shook hands as well. "And this -"

"Ensign Lee," said Sarah, leaning across the table to grasp Chakotay's hand. She had practically leapt out of her seat to greet him, her smile wide and cheerful.

"Nice to meet you." He looked around the table. "Is this your first mission into the Beta Quadrant?"

---------------

Ensign Lee was monitoring power consumption from her post in engineering when Ensign Ramman came up to her. Lee was focused on her task so she yelped and knocked a Padd to the ground at the unexpected feel of an unknown hand around her arm. They were hidden in a corner of engineering so no one noticed her fright.

"What are you doing?" It took all her effort not to yell. "You scared me." She snatched up the Padd from the floor.

Ramman didn't apologize. He didn't even look sorry. "I heard what happened this morning."

Lee rolled her eyes and turned her back on him. "What are you talking about?"

Ramman's eyes narrowed. "Gall said the Captain joined you guys for breakfast."

Lee continued to watch the readings. "So?"

"What did he ask you?"

"Nothing significant."

Ramman grabbed her upper arm again, spinning Lee around so that her wide, shocked eyes met his. "What did he ask you about?"

"He asked us about where we were from and what sort of missions we'd been on before. We all just chatted. He was nice."

"Are you sure?" Lee hesitated and Ramman shook her arm, anger turning his face red. "Is that all you talked about?"

"Y…y… yes, that's all." She trembled as her usually docile friend glared into her eyes. He finally released her and stalked away.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When the Regulus finally came into view Chakotay wondered just what he would find. He had never met the captain or crew of the Regulus and had only the impersonal records from Starfleet to go on. The reports on the Regulus suggested a classic science vessel with a Starfleet-stamped crew. The reports on the captain made it clear that though his cautious nature suggested he would be more suited to lead an anthropological study, he had come into command because he had proven he could perform under pressure. He was neither dull nor remarkable except in his strict adherence to his morals and compassion.

When they hailed the Starfleet ship and Captain Silas' visage came up, Chakotay had the sensation he was face to face with a kindred spirit. Captain Jim Silas was a man in his prime, if slightly greying and wrinkled from stress. His perfect record might have hinted that he was a tough Starfleet officer, but his calm demeanour gave him a more respectful air that came through even on the view screen.

Chakotay and Silas stood with mutual respect. Chakotay was careful to appear strictly professional. "I'm Captain Chakotay of the USS Voyager."

Silas smiled so warmly that Chakotay wondered if they had met before. He could not help but return the gesture. "Captain Jim Silas. It's nice to finally meet you, Captain."

"Likewise. Any changes in the situation?"

"Nothing new. We've been detecting subspace disturbances in the area, but we can't pin down a cause."

"I see." Chakotay looked to Tom, who shrugged. They weren't going to find any answers just sitting around here. He nodded to Tom, who keyed in a few commands. "We're eager to get going. Specific directions from Starfleet, including a recording of the distress message recieved are being sent to you."

Silas looked down at a woman seated at his left, Commander Imani Roux, a six-foot tall woman with rich black skin and elegant features. She confirmed that the message had been received. "Excellent. The Regulus will match your speed and course. Silas out."

----------------

At first there was only darkness, the only sensation Seven felt during the deepest levels of her regeneration. There was nothing and Seven felt nothing. It was a state of being, of disconnect from any real thought.

Then, noises grew in the dark, drawing Seven's attention out of unconsciousness. It started as a tiny whisper far away, a single, unisex voice. More and more voices joined in, but they stayed a loud whisper. It was like listening to a conversation through a door.

A dim, green light appeared as well. It didn't illuminate anything as there was nothing around to be seen. Still, Seven had the inexplicable feeling that there was something just beyond the light, on the edges of the darkness. There was no proper explanation for the feeling, but still it was as though figures were darting around, just grazing the light.

On the very edge of the light a shadow pushed against the light, trying to shrink it. For a moment the outline of a large figure appeared and it felt as though a pressure was building in Seven's head. Then the figure backed away, the pressure receded and the usual dark and quiet returned.

When Seven awoke, all that she remembered of her dream were some vague feelings that faded throughout the day.

----------------

6 days to Beta 12.

The morning started off in the usual fashion. Despite only being captain for a very little while, Chakotay had already started to develop a pattern in his daily routine as was the crew. Chakotay started his morning off with a quick shower and then breakfast in the mess hall. From there he would read reports and give minor orders on the bridge.

In the mess hall, Chakotay looked for an open seat. The same group he had breakfasted with the other day was together again, along with a Bajoran ensign. Since their circle was complete, Chakotay had to move along. As he passed, Chakotay nodded to Lieutenant Talana, Ensign Gall, Ensign Lee and the man whose name escaped him. Talana and Gall smiled at him, but Lee avoided his gaze.

Tom and Harry were sitting at the windows. A chair was available with them and Chakotay took it quickly before someone else could.

"Morning, Chakotay," said Tom, poking at some fruit on his plate.

"Morning, Tom. Morning, Harry." Chakotay sat, but couldn't help looking over his shoulder at Ensign Sarah Lee. The change in her disposition was unsettling and suggested to Chakotay that there was something wrong. There wasn't much time to dwell on his confusion, though, as Harry drew his attention.

"I have those reports you wanted." He passed a Padd across the table. "I'm afraid it doesn't have anything new in it."

Chakotay looked over the information, furrowing his brow. "Why is that?"

"It looks like Starfleet really is worried about a possible security breach. They're taking Picard's last transmission seriously and restricting access to the database."

"Hmm. I guess I'm not surprised." Chakotay put the Padd down and hunched over the table. He took a swig of his rapidly cooling tea just as Harry nonchalantly spoke.

"So, how's Seven doing?"

Chakotay gave Harry a warning look over the rim of his cup, but Harry wasn't looking. "Fine as far as I know."

"Maybe we should try to all get together after this," said Tom with a smile.

Chakotay studied his second in command, but could discern nothing suspicious. As far as he could tell Tom was just being his cheerful self. Harry, on the other hand, had a silly grin and was avoiding eye contact.

Tom continued, "B'Elanna would enjoy it. She even said it's been too long since we were all together."

"I agree," said Harry. "We should set a date." He finally looked up at Chakotay, grinning yet seriousness in his dark eyes. "What about you and Seven?"

Chakotay could have killed Harry right there, but had to settle for narrowing his eyes.

"Do you think she'd be interested?" Tom asked. There was a shine in his eye and the grin on his face was all too familiar. Apparently he wasn't as innocent as he had pretended to be.

Chakotay cocked his head, frowning at them both. "I wouldn't know. Maybe one of you should ask her."

Tom and Harry looked at each other, expressions serious for only a moment before they broke out into laughter. That they were teasing their scowling captain didn't matter to them.

"Oh, come on, Chakotay," said Tom between chuckles. "What are you waiting for? If you want her, go get her. Ask her out again."

Chakotay sighed, toying with the cup. "You don't understand. It's not that simple."

"Simple?" Tom scoffed. "When has anything ever been simple for me? You think I don't understand difficult women?"

"You know how stubborn Seven can be." He met their eyes, hoping, willing them to understand. "Besides, it's not about me. It's about her and she made herself clear when she decided to end the relationship. All I'm trying to do right now is maintain a friendship."

"Chakotay, you can try to lie, but it won't work. We've known you just too long," said Harry. "You two were good for each other and you know it."

Chakotay shook his head. "I can't believe I'm getting relationship advice from you two."

Tom ignored the comment. "She and B'Elanna are cut from the same cloth. She's just being stubborn. You have to show her you care, that you want to make it work."

Chakotay tried again to make them understand the challenge. "Listen, I'm not going to harass her into doing something she doesn't want --"

"Naturally," Harry interrupted. Tom nodded in agreement.

"-- and right now she wants to be left alone."

Harry nodded. "I thought she seemed a bit standoffish, kind of like she used to be."

Tom leaned forward. "You're not going to let her back out on all the progress she's made, are you?"

Chakotay shook his head. "I won't pressure her for anything more than friendship now, but I think it's going to take effort to get even that." Chakotay sighed before deciding to confide to them what would be the biggest obstacle. "The truth is she's been having trouble acclimating to the Alpha Quadrant. I agree that she's been sliding and something needs to be done about that, but it will not be done with ambushes." He gave a meaningful look to them both, trying to impress upon them that they should stay out of it.

"If you want to help her, then I suggest you try coaxing her out of astrometrics to socialize with the crew. As for anything I chose to do or not to do, that is my business. Am I clear?" He gave them his very best commanding look, but had the feeling they weren't at all dissuaded. Tom never was one to be put out by an authority figure. Though Harry was more likely to obey his orders, it wasn't as though he could bring them up on charges for trying to get him and Seven together.

"Well, I can certainly ask her if she wants to join us for a meal or some relaxation time," said Tom.

Harry nodded. "We hardly had the time to catch up yet."

"I'll ask her the next time I see her," said Tom with a wide and teasing smile that made Chakotay uneasy.

--------------

The inability to completely ignore hunger finally drove Seven out of her hiding spots. Still, she managed to hold off the imminent trip until 23:00 hours when she found her way to the mess hall. At first there didn't appear to be anyone else in the mess hall. She replicated a plate of rice and vegetables, ready for a quiet dinner, but movement on the couch caught her attention.

"Oh, hello, Seven." It was Tom. His surprise faded and he blinked tiredly at her as she joined him.

"Good evening, Commander."

He smiled. "Come on, Seven, I think you can call me Tom." He waved at the empty room. "It's not like there's anyone to notice."

She nodded in agreement.

"Besides," he rested his forearms on his legs, "I think we've known each other long enough to be at least a little less formal."

"I agree, Tom." The single name was familiar for Seven to hear, but it felt new and bizarre coming from her own lips. She looked at the table he was leaning over. Padds, cups, and plates suggested he had been there a good while.

"Couldn't sleep," he said, noticing her look.

Aware that not everyone could tell when she was teasing, Seven made sure to keep a tiny smile on her face. "Should I take you to the Doctor? I'm sure he could replicate a sedative."

He chuckled. "No, that's all right." Tom's mirth subsided and they both grew serious. "I just miss B'Elanna and Miral. That's all."

Uncomfortable with discussing feelings, but unable to escape the conversation now, Seven shifted nervously. "I understand many people feel anxiety when separated from their spouse and children."

"No," he shook his head, "it's not so much anxiety as loneliness." He watched her closely, observing her nervous movements and wide, slightly confused eyes. "When you love someone and spend enough time with them, you want them with you, to experience as many good things with them as possible." That drew her attention back to him.

Her blue eyes, dark grey in the muted lighting focused completely on Tom with interest. "Is that how you knew you were in love, that you wanted to marry B'Elanna?"

"Not necessarily." Tom chose his words carefully, partly trying to nudge Seven in the right direction and partly to give credit to the way love felt to him. He quickly realized that it was no small matter to explain to an ex-drone what love felt like, especially the love he shared with his wife, his soul mate. "Love isn't… it feels…" He took a deep breath. "Nothing can explain what it feels like because it feels different to everyone. With me and B'Elanna, I wanted to be a better person. I feel so alive when I'm with her. Even -- especially when we argue I feel challenged and expected to live up to expectations, but not the expectations that everyone else has for me."

Seven raised her brow, curious. "Explain."

"Since I was young, I knew my father had certain expectations of me and I always rebelled against it because I didn't want to be like him. I didn't want to be stern and commanding." He paused, his eyes following his mind back to his rebellious youth. "He expected me to be a Starfleet officer just like him, but I wanted to be allowed something else."

"What?"

"Anything else. I wanted my freedom to decide and the ability to prove I was my own man, not just led through life on his leash. It felt like the only way I could do that was to do whatever he would disapprove of. I thought it would get rid of my feelings of anger, my bitterness, my -- my feelings of inadequacy, but it didn't. It just got worse."

His gaze returned to her. "I didn't realize it at first, but being with B'Elanna was like having the slate washed clean. Because she never had any expectations for me to be anything but a scoundrel, what I thought I was, it made me feel like there was no pressure. When we began to date, she was dating me. When she told me she loved me, she was saying she loved me, not something she expected me to be."

"It felt good."

Tom wasn't sure if she was talking about her and Chakotay or trying to sum up what he had just said, but decided to answer anyway. "It did. I would have loved anyone who made me feel like that, but on top of all her other qualities," Tom chuckled a little, "well, I never stood a chance."

Seven nodded, her mind far from the mess hall and Voyager.

Tom slapped his knee and began to tidy up his mess. "Well, I guess I better get to bed. It's going to be a long trip and we all need to be in top shape." He had reached the door by the time he remembered Chakotay's suggestion. "Oh, and by the way, Harry, a couple of others, and I are getting together tomorrow night for dinner and maybe some pool after our shifts. You should join us." A stubborn look was already appearing on her face, but Tom pre-empted her objections. "Harry was really excited when I suggested you might be convinced to come. You wouldn't want to make him cry, would you?"

Against her will Seven chuckled. "In that case I will comply."

----------------

Noises grew in the dark, drawing Seven's attention out of unconsciousness. As the pale green light appeared, she remembered her last dream and she wondered why this would occur twice.

Again came the inexplicable feeling that there was something just beyond the light, on the edges of the darkness. The imaginary figures were darting around, just grazing the light with more frequency and more pressure than the night before.

Seven could almost feel a barrier between them and her that was being continually pushed against. Unlike the last night, the barrier did not hold.

Aboard a Borg cube, drones marched down the corridors like ants in a hill. They were all busy, their movements swift and controlled with the uniform steps of their race. Around the galaxy, millions of them at a time acted as one, all without individuality. It was not their place to think and not within their capabilities. All actions were controlled by one greater power, a queen. Now, the Queen told them to work. A new species was being brought aboard to be assimilated.

Almost a sixth of the ship's drones converged in the chambers where assimilation would take place. There, they caught the still struggling families, the hysterical children, even the violent males trying to fight back. They were all subdued with effortless force and some with nanoprobes.

In the maturation chambers, new drone fetuses were built even as the parents of the former children were taken apart and put back together in the form of machines. And all through this operation, the drones watched without thought of mercy, without thought at all. A human male was struggling with the others. He was wearing a red and black commander's uniform. Sweat formed on his forehead as he struggled, dripping down the tattoo on his forehead. His struggles were cut short with a few nanoprobes.

Red eyes glowed in the dark. The blinding green of Borg technology and depressing dark began to pulse, to take on a life of its own. It threatened to consume the whole ship and go far beyond. One heart on the ship sped up with the threat, thumping in ever growing fear of the darkness…

As the night before, the pressure receded and the usual dark and quiet returned. The memory of the dream faded until it was just a nagging in the back of her mind.

----------------

5 days to Beta 12.

Seven was still in astrometrics long after her shift ended. She hoped to avoid Commander Paris and anyone else who might try to drag her into an awkward social interaction. Perhaps they would take the hint and leave her alone. There was no such luck.

"Hey, Seven." The jaunty tones of Tom Paris came up behind Seven the same instant the doors slid open.

Lieutenant Harry Kim followed, greeting her just as happily, but with a slightly quieter voice. "How're you doing? Ready for some dinner?"

Seven returned her gaze to the data on her console. "I have work to do."

Tom looked over her shoulder at the mindless cataloguing she was working on, but it was Harry who contradicted her. "No, you're avoiding the issue."

"I am not avoiding anything," she huffed, but it was true. With theta radiation around Beta 12 still blocking scanners there was very little for her to do.

"Come on then," said Tom. "We thought we'd grab something to eat and then have some fun on the holodeck." She still looked ready to argue, was even gathering breath to do so.

"We won't take no for an answer," said Harry. His tone was kind, but sterner than they were used to hearing from him.

Sighing, Seven tapped a few last buttons and agreed to go with them.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The three quickly ate with Tom and Harry dominating most of the conversation. Harry and Tom were so lively, keeping Seven's attention so well that the usual scowls and averted gazed didn't bother her as much as usual.

Once they were fed and watered, they went to the holodeck where a group of people had already started to gather. A few people from every corner of the ship had managed to make it. Some were already known and others had been invited on a whim. They had already set up the program so that Sandrine's was in place with its orange lighting and woodwork setting an atmosphere unique to the place.

Tom led the way into the building, smiling and greeting people as he went. Seven hesitated at the door. Harry had been walking behind her to block any escape route and noticed the uncertainty. Taking a chance, he patted her shoulder and was rewarded with a petite smile. They made their way inside and up to the bar where Tom was ordering drinks.

Seven shook her head when Tom passed her a drink, but he smiled and reassured her it was a virgin pina colada.

"You'll like it," said the doctor, sidling up to them.

Tom jumped at the unexpected appearance. "Jeez, Doc, you scared me." He grasped his heart in mock fear. "Make some noise when you come up behind people, would you?"

The Doctor tilted his head and teased Tom. "I did not attempt to disguise my approach. Perhaps we should check your hearing, Mr. Paris."

Ten minutes later and their group had moved over to stand around one of the pool tables. Seven occupied a stool at the end of the bar and the Doctor stood at her elbow. Harry leaned over the table, lined up his shot and missed.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," chided Tom as he came around the table for his turn. "I thought I taught you better than that."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I guess I'll just have to show you how it's done." He assessed the angles, taking his time in lining up. He was just about to shoot when the Doctor spoke.

"Actually," the ball missed its mark by a wider margin than Harry's, "being a hologram I would have an advantage over both of you as I can --"

"Yes, thank you, Doc," said Tom. He took Harry's place against the wall, trying to ignore the way his best friend was laughing at him.

As the game continued, Chakotay entered the holodeck. He looked around, but didn't have to search too hard. Tom and Harry were hard to ignore when they started joking around and the Doctor's balding head was visible from almost anywhere. And anywhere the Doctor was… there Seven was.

She could feel his presence before she saw him. Chakotay had a way of making those around him stop and take notice. By no tangible means of perception, several people knew someone was behind them and moved out of his way before he even had to ask.

Before he could get to her, a group of holograms walked between them, blocking Seven from his sight. She took the opportunity. Everyone was looking elsewhere and her civilian clothing allowed her to blend into the crowd.

"Captain," the Doctor greeted with a smile. He didn't actually look at Chakotay but kept his attention on the game.

"Doc." He nodded to the EMH. "Have you seen Seven?" Chakotay stretched out his neck, trying to see over everyone, but there was no sign of her.

The Doctor turned in confusion. "She's right…" He trailed off when he finally looked over his shoulder and noticed Seven had disappeared. "She was right here a moment ago."

The Doctor and Chakotay looked around, but both failed to notice the holodeck door slide open. Seven escaped into the hallway, triumphant and yet somehow saddened that it had been so easy.

----------------

Disappointed that Seven had skipped out before he could even say hello, Chakotay went back to the bridge. The night crew was on duty, but Chakotay didn't care. He needed to get his mind off his personal problems and work was just the ticket.

There were reports from Chief Engineer Fergus that would have to be read. The lanky engineer had been keeping his team hopping, tweaking this and tuning that. Were Chakotay not acquainted with B'Elanna, he would have thought Fergus was the most hardcore engineer in Starfleet.

Chakotay tried to imagine the length and depth of Fergus' report. It would no doubt take awhile to get through and numb his mind. I might as well read it now, he decided.

----------------

Seven entered the cargo bay and prepared her unit for her regeneration cycle. The large machine hummed its readiness. As soon as she entered and aligned herself with it, the cycle would start.

It was a process that she had taken part in countless times before, but this time was different. She hesitated. Without knowing why, Seven felt repulsed. It wasn't disgust but rather a squirming in the pit of her stomach. Unfortunately, regeneration was necessary for her cybernetic systems.

She entered the unit and lined up her body. The machine engaged and darkness took over as Seven closed her eyes. The voices and pale green light came into her vision sooner than the previous nights. She looked around and noted that the area illuminated had expanded. It did not comfort her.

The shadowy figures appeared soon. They pressed against the barrier of light with more fervour and ease than the previous nights. The largest of them bent the light so far inward that Seven feared it would break. It did not occur to her how strange a thought it was to think light could break. She knew it instinctually that only a thin shield now was keeping whatever was on the other side away from her.

Millions of voices collected into one. The calmer ones were giving orders, the louder ones were screaming. All of them were like icy hands, gripping her legs and trying to pull her down. A cavern appeared below her feet, though she didn't recall having a body or being on a floor.

Green fire appeared at the bottom of the pit and suddenly Seven could see where the voices were coming from. Thousands upon thousands of hands and warped, half-assimilated heads were reaching out to her as she fell, never getting any closer to the bottom. Their skin was pasty and grey. They smelled of rot and death as they screamed and reached out for her with clammy palms and cold eyes. Seven, too terrified to even scream, reached out to push herself away from the walls, but she was surrounded.

One of the dead hands grabbed hers and she looked up to see it was connected to a whole body. It was her, but not as she was now… as she was when still Borg. Without warning, the Borg version of her let go and Seven was falling faster than before to the now solid, metal ground below…

----------------

3 days to Beta 12.

Seven left her regeneration cycle early, but wasn't sure why. For a while she just wandered around the cargo bay looking for something. Just what she was looking for she didn't know. It was just a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that told her there was something she had forgotten to do, or forgotten completely.

Finally, after a half hour of simply wandering aimlessly, Seven stood and stared at her regeneration unit. There was something about it that tickled her memory. It was terribly frustrating not being able to remember.

The lighting at the top of her unit caught her attention. The dancing of the electric display was captivating and the more she watched, the more intriguing it became. Green danced against black…

Her eyes widened as her memories flooded back.

----------------

Voyager's corridors were lively early in the morning. Seven passed several people on her way to astrometrics. Those who noticed her or bothered to raise their eyes either glared or quickly averted their gazes, fearful. She bypassed the mess hall completely, deciding it was best to get something to eat when less people would be there.

There were a two ensigns, Nancy Clemens and Edward Burns, already in astrometrics when she entered. Despite her unnerved state, Seven gave them a tiny smile and a nod as she entered. One of them smiled back, having been working in astrometrics with her for a few days now. The other tensed and looked away. Seven didn't bother trying to engage either of them in a conversation. For the rest of the day, she remained in near solitude and almost perfect silence.

----------------

1 day to Beta 12.

A new species was being brought aboard to be assimilated.

Drones converged in the chambers where assimilation would take place. There, they caught the still struggling families, the hysterical children, even the violent males trying to fight back. They were all subdued with effortless force and some with nanoprobes.

Ignored in the corner were several Starfleet officers. An ensign and a lieutenant pointed to the various things the Borg were doing as two admirals made notations on Padds.

In the maturation chambers, new drone fetuses were built even as the parents of the former children were taken apart and put back together in the form of machines. And all through this operation, the drones watched without thought of mercy, without thought at all.

A human male was struggling with the others. He was wearing a red and black captain's uniform. Sweat formed on his forehead as he struggled, dripping down the tattoo on his forehead. His struggles were cut short with a few nanoprobes and he fell to the deck, his body shielded from view by a swarm of drones.

Red eyes glowed in the dark. The blinding green of Borg technology and depressing dark began to pulse, to take on a life of its own. It threatened to consume the whole ship and go far beyond. One heart on the ship sped up with the threat, thumping in ever growing fear of the darkness.

Blue eyes met dozens of red ones. Seven struggled to breathe.

"It's just a dream. It's just a dream," she told herself over and over. It did no good. She trembled as one of the drones came towards her. At first, the Borg's face was blurred by the pulsing lights, the sickly green and red glow casting unnatural shadows on its face.

Seven tried to move, but was rooted to the spot. She tried to look away, but the only things to see were more drones. Wishing to block the image of metal-infected flesh from her sight, Seven closed her eyes.

Muscular hands wrapped around Seven's upper arms, holding her in place. The drone's warm breath on her cheek shocked her into opening them again. It was Chakotay, unblinking and accusing in his stare.

The Starfleet officers in the corner watched and pointed to her and Chakotay. The admirals were frowning as the ensign and lieutenant shouted that all this was Seven's fault.

Trapped by the horrifying vision of Chakotay as a drone, Seven couldn't look away from him. She wondered how this happened and as though reading her thoughts, the drone of Chakotay answered.

"You did this to me."

Seven struggled within her own mind, trying to regain consciousness. At first nothing happened. It was as though the grip the Borg had her in was real. The feel of hands on her felt real, but then it faded along with the image of Chakotay's mutilated face.

The cargo bay was dark and unwelcoming.

"Chakotay." The whisper escaped her lips before she could stop herself. She looked around, half expecting to see him there, but he wasn't. Seven stepped from her unit, ignoring the computer as it warned her that the cycle was incomplete.

----------------

When the two ships arrived at Beta 12, the two senior crews stared from their respective positions at the solar system before them. Two suns revolved around each other, pulled close by their own gravity. Twelve planets, and one dense, brown nebula the size of a large ship circled the two suns. Of the twelve planets, only one had been able to support life and it was now no more than a dusty rock.

Of all the items in the system, the brown nebula was the most interesting. It had appeared around the same time as the Enterprise disappeared and evidence of small rifts in subspace was all around the area. Scans were able to reveal little about the nebula itself.

Outside the pull of the two stars, but still within viewing distance was an asteroid field and beyond that shone a bright blue nebula. It too was providing little information for the scanners, but otherwise appeared to be a normal nebula.

"Anything?" Chakotay asked from the captain's chair. He, like many of the other officers was daunted by the sight of the barren wasteland. The wide scale loss of life saddened him.

Seven of Nine's fingers danced over the controls as she spoke. She was too used to viewing similar destruction to waste time in sadness when she could be discovering why and how such a thing could have happened.

"Report," said Chakotay.

"Theta radiation is still interfering with scanners." She continued to work and after a moment, the group released a breath in relief. "No, there are no traces of either the Enterprise or life on the planet." Data scrolled by on her console faster than any human could read. "Nor are there any new anomalies." She looked up, her usual stoic expression in place. "Unless the Enterprise was vaporized, they were not destroyed - at least, not here."

Harry Kim nodded. "I suppose that's good news."

She gave her friend a smile. Her expression didn't reveal it, but she was as glad as the others were. "It is."

"One more thing, Captain," said Seven, still not looking at him, though he had partly turned to hear her better. "Our scanners are unable to get a clear scan of either of the nebulas." Something on her screen caught her attention. "A closer proximity may help us receive clearer readings."

"Agreed," Chakotay said, but wasn't sure if Seven had heard him as she continued despite his confirmation.

"There appears to be several unknown elements composing the brown nebula but I'm not detecting anything to explain why they're restricted to this area, or this nebula."

A slightly whimsical tone broke into Chakotay's thoughts. "I think we should call it the Mud Hole," said Lieutenant Ellie Horne from the helm.

'"Mud Hole'?" asked Chakotay with a smile.

"It seemed an appropriate name for the nebula," she said quickly, but still a faint blush crept over her cheeks.

Tom, though he looked straight ahead, was fighting hard not to smile. "I think it looks more like mushy beans."

Shaking his head, Chakotay pressed a communications button on his console. "Chakotay to Regulus."

Over the bridge's intercom came Captain Jim Silas' steady voice. "Regulus here. That brown nebula shouldn't be here and I've not seen anything like it anywhere else in the Beta Quadrant. Whatever it is, it must have developed around the time of the Enterprise's disappearance."

"Agreed. Any sign of our colleagues?"

"No, we're not picking up any signs of the Enterprise, intact or otherwise."

"Neither are we and there's no sign of the rifts either. We think the Enterprise must have moved elsewhere, or been moved."

Onboard the USS Regulus, Captain Jim Silas stood with his hands clasped behind his back as his calm, assessing eyes took in the planet. "Understood," he said, not bothering to raise his voice any louder than as though Captain Chakotay were right beside him. His voice carried well enough and due to the sombre nature of their mission, his bridge crew was being especially silent. "With any luck, the Enterprise will have landed on one of the moons or continued on to search the rest of the system."

In the chair beside him, Silas' second in command furrowed her dark brow, but didn't say anything. Silas' premature wrinkles grew deeper as he smiled at Commander Imani Roux. She knew the chances the Enterprise stood of finding a safe place to land and hide on the barren, unwelcoming planets and moons. For that matter, so did Silas, but he preferred to remain hopeful.

"We're going to take a few scans and a sample of this brown nebula, see if we can't figure out what it's made of. We can both start our scans of the system and move on from there if we don't find anything."

"Acknowledged. We're preparing to take samples of the Mud Hole as well."

'"Mud Hole?'" Silas looked to Commander Roux, but she just shrugged, equally puzzled.

Silas swore he could hear amusement in Captain Chakotay's voice as he replied. "Someone over here thought it would make a good name for the brown nebula."

"Of course," said Silas. "It seems to have appeared about the same time as the rifts. If we can each work on it, we might be able to figure out where it came from."

"Shouldn't be a problem. Keep an eye out and stay in regular contact."

"Understood. Regulus out."

-------------------------------

Though not a lauded war hero, Silas had gained respect from Starfleet during the Dominion War. It was that respect which pushed him towards caution in situations such as these. As his crew went through the simple and familiar procedures for bringing a sample from a nebula onboard, Silas watched Voyager do the same from his bridge.

As a man of science and adventure, it was just a normal thing for both the scientist and captain in Jim Silas to be extremely interested in the murky nebula circling the two suns.

"Sample is in Lab 3 and secure," reported Commander Roux said.

"Excellent."

To his pilot, Lieutenant Teya Ackeela, he gave the command to head for the first of the moons to be inspected. Silas then turned from the large screen before him and headed out the main doors, anxious to see this foreign substance for himself. "Inform Captain Chakotay that we have our sample and are on our way."

-------------------------

"Sample is secure," said Fergus. He and another engineer watched as a container filled with the brown gas.

-----------------------

"Good work."

Tom tapped in a few commands. "The Regulus has their sample as well. We're good to go."

Chakotay nodded and addressed Ellie Horne. "Whenever you're ready, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Captain." Almost immediately, Voyager made a slight shift and began to follow the Regulus as they toured the small system.

Assured that everything was being well taken care of, Chakotay approached Seven's station. "Seven, I want you to help with the analysis of the nebula sample."

She lifted what would have been a brow if there were no silver metal there. "Captain?"

"You have a lot more experience with foreign substances than we do. Use what resources you deem necessary."

She nodded once to him. "Yes, sir." She said it as smartly as any cadet and hurried from the bridge to do as commanded.

It was lucky she did not turn around as she would have been unable to ignore or brush off how Chakotay watched her with pride and more than a little sadness in his eyes.

---------------------

Unfortunately for the crews of Voyager and the Regulus, the reason for the Enterprise's disappearance was close and prepared to do anything it took to protect what they had worked so hard to build. Months of planning and effort would not be compromised, not now when they were so close.

On a ship unlike any other in the Beta or Alpha Quadrant, enemies of Voyager waited for their moment. A substance they had designed to recreate their natural environment surrounded them, hiding their ships and so much more from view.

------------------

The two crews stayed in constant contact as they scoured the passing planets of the small solar system. It was estimated the trip would take two days if they kept scanning at their current rate.

They travelled together and worked together, but it did nothing to improve the lack of information they were gleaning from the unforgiving system. Still, the scientists on both ships continued to prod and poke their samples, hoping to identify the compounds making up the unusually dense nebula. Nobody worked as hard on deciphering the mystery as one particular person.

----------------

Seven was tired. Usually she could have pushed her fatigue out of mind, but it had been a long day. It had taken a toll on the whole crew, including her. She needed a full night of uninterrupted regeneration, preferably without any disturbing dreams. She knew it was very likely that she would go wanting.

"I'm beat. I'll see you tomorrow," said Fergus. His trip up from his post had not been eventful. Fergus and Seven had spent the better part of the day trying to glean some truth from their sample of the Mud Hole, but come up with nothing.

"Goodnight."

Ensign Nancy Clemens entered astrometrics as Fergus exited. A strand of brown hair fell into her eyes and she impatiently flicked it away. She listened patiently and attentively as Seven of Nine brought her up to date on the results of the days' scans and bid the ex-Borg a goodnight.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Seven disappeared. Clemens liked her colleague well enough, but it was nice to have the night shift all to herself. It let her feel like the lab was her own.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Beneath closed eyes was a world of snow and ice and a lone Borg drone. Seven touched her hair. It was pinned up, like she used to keep it. She didn't remember pinning it up. Then again, she didn't remember coming to this frozen planet either.

Her gaze drifted up to the sky. It was perfectly clear and blue, but there was no visible sun, clouds, or moon. All around her was a desolate plane. Not even mountains or a glacier was visible.

Seven was alone, completely and utterly alone. Her breathing came in short, trembling gasps as she turned in a circle, looking for any sign of another being. It occurred to her that this was all just a dream. She tried to tell herself that, but it did no good. The anxiety built progressively.

Without warning, the scene changed to one she recognized. It was just as bad as the deserted landscape.

He was wearing a red and black captain's uniform. Sweat formed on his forehead as he struggled, dripping down the tattoo on his forehead. His struggles were cut short with a few nanoprobes and he fell to the deck, his body shielded from view by a swarm of drones.

Red eyes glowed in the dark. The blinding green of Borg technology and depressing dark began to pulse, to take on a life of its own. It threatened to consume the whole ship and go far beyond. One heart on the ship sped up with the threat, thumping in ever growing fear of the darkness.

Blue eyes met dozens of red ones. Seven struggled to breathe.

"It's just a dream. It's just a dream," she told herself over and over. It did no good. She trembled as one of the drones came towards her. At first, the Borg's face was blurred by the pulsing lights, the sickly green and red glow casting unnatural shadows on its face.

Seven tried to move, but was rooted to the spot. She tried to look away, but the only thing to see was more drones. Wishing to block the image of metal-infected flesh from her sight, Seven closed her eyes.

The drone's warm breath on her cheek shocked her into opening them again. It was Chakotay, unblinking and accusing in his stare.

Trapped by the horrifying vision of Chakotay as a drone, Seven couldn't look away from him. She wondered how this happened and as though reading her thoughts, the drone of Chakotay answered.

"You did this to me."

Seven forced her eyes to open to the reality of cargo bay two. The bay was empty, occupied just by grey bins and her. Were she not determined to keep her emotions in check, she could have cried. As it was, her throat burned and it took several breaths before she could be certain there were no tears in her eyes.

Trying to think of something comforting, her mind drifted to the real Chakotay. The thought of him safe and well on the bridge calmed her more than any breathing techniques or rationalization.

While she was up, Seven decided to work. No one would know that she hadn't completed her regeneration cycle. Despite the self-assigned tasks, Seven kept looking to the doors. She was debating whether or not to go to the bridge. It was difficult to resist the urge to go see Chakotay in person, but she did.

For the sixth time in a row, she looked at the cargo bay doors. She forced her eyes back to the console, but was abruptly hit with a pain in her left shoulder. She bent over, holding the pained arm as best she could to herself. The Doctor would be able to help with the pain, but it quickly diminished on its own to be replaced with a headache.

Her implants were acting up because of the insufficient rest. She looked at her regeneration unit. With no alternative, she returned to finish off the night in intermitted nightmares.

----------------

Dr. Kal was in the office when Chakotay entered sickbay, looking around like he was searching for something.

"Can I help you, Captain?" Kal called from his desk.

"I'm looking for the Doctor -- the holographic doctor."

"Ah, I see. He's offline right now."

"Thank you." Chakotay moved to stand beside one of the beds while Kal returned to his work. At his request, the computer activated the Doctor.

"Captain, what can I help you with?" Though the Doctor felt the same loyalty for Captain Chakotay as he did for Janeway, he still could not help the tiniest bit of jealousy at the sight of the man who was able to have an intimate relationship with Seven whereas he had been unsuccessful. Of course, he had heard the two were no longer together, but that didn't get rid of his feelings.

"I'd like you to check up on Seven."

"Pardon?" He dropped the hypospray and gave Chakotay his full attention.

"You know her. I've already taken a look at her regeneration unit and she hasn't gone through a complete cycle since we started this mission."

Despite his desire to follow this particular request, the Doctor hesitated. It felt like he was getting between two lovers in a quarrel and no matter how he felt for Seven, that didn't feel right. "Well, I can talk to her, but I don't see why you can't."

Chakotay smiled a little bitterly. "She won't listen to me." It wasn't a lie. He knew well enough that she wouldn't listen to him at this point unless it was an order. He decided not to mention that he just wasn't up to seeking her out yet.

"Thank you." Chakotay turned to leave, but hesitated. "Also, if you could not mention this conversation, I would appreciate it."

The Doctor nodded. "Of course, Captain."

----------------

In the astrometrics lab, Seven tapped a series of controls and the large screen in front of her changed from a star map of the system and into a greatly magnified picture of mud-coloured, densely-packed molecules. Seven didn't recognize the compounds. Each particle was made of several dozen clusters, much too close together to be considered particles from a nebula, but they were.

Like the rest of Voyager's crew and that of the Regulus, she had already spent dozens of hours studying the makeup of the molecules and like her peers, she had been able to discover nothing. Unlike her peers, Seven had not slept or eaten since beginning the study of the complex makeup of the brown nebula.

As she frowned over a particular bit of unidentifiable matter, the Doctor walked in. His forehead crinkled as he quizzically studied the large image on the main screen. The molecule looked more like a virus with tentacles than a cluster of free-floating particulates.

"What is that?" he asked.

Seven sighed heavily and straightened her posture just the slightest bit. She would not let this infuriating nebula get the better of her. Identification of every last element would be finished by the end of the trip even if it killed her. Still, for the time being, she had to admit, "I don't know."

"Pardon?"

"It's a magnified molecule from the Mud Hole, but I -- it is extremely difficult to identify."

"What do you mean? Is it emitting theta radiation?" The Doctor's forehead crinkled even more in his confusion. "Have you compared it to --"

"There is no theta radiation in the sample we collected. I have compared it to everything. It is not a part of any known matter in the galaxy and I still can't figure out what it is. It displays none of the normal characteristics of any matter I've ever seen."

The Doctor stared at the magnification a few moments more then turned his attention to Seven, acting overly cheerful and nonchalant. "Well then, I guess it's time for a break."

Seven hardly glanced at him. "I don't require nutritional supplements at this time."

The tone of voice held the familiar stubbornness of old, but the Doctor was having none of it. "Too bad. You think no one's noticed that you've barely left this room? I have. When was the last time you regenerated?"

Seven was silent.

"That's what I thought. Captain Chakotay asked you to work on this. He didn't say to work yourself to death."

"I'm not," she argued, but it was without much conviction. Her conscience pricked at her as she thought of how Chakotay once would have come to her himself. When they were together, he would always find time to make sure she ate and took time off. It became so much of a ritual in so short a time that she would find extra work just so that he would have to at least call. He knew she did it and she knew that he knew. "I have had more than enough rest."

"No, you're not going to get away with that." Taking her hand, the Doctor's photonic strength won over hers. He managed to pull her all the way to the door before she gave in and followed cooperatively to the mess hall.

------------------------

There weren't very many people in the mess hall when the Doctor and Seven entered. In the far side three ensigns with datapads huddled over cups of some steaming beverage. A crewman with small horns on the ridge of his nose and lining the tops of his brows was just taking a seat next to the window. The kitchen was dark and empty. Chell had already cleaned up and headed to bed.

The Doctor allowed Seven to pick where she wanted to sit while he ordered her meal from the replicator. He had ignored her statement that she could get it herself, probably guessing that she would ask for less on her plate so she could get back to astrometrics faster. The Doctor returned with a plate full of various items. He had to move carefully so as not to drop any of the overflowing contents onto the floor.

Trying to be polite, Seven smiled and began to eat as the Doctor chatted away about miscellaneous topics. He had barely gotten into how cramped the sickbay seemed after being on the giant station orbiting Mars when Seven interrupted.

"How did you manage to get away from sickbay?"

The Doctor smiled. "Dr. Kal and I are working opposite shifts. It is only fair and it's not as though we need two doctors round the clock."

"I see."

"Of course, not needing sleep, I thought I should take the time to check up on you. We haven't had time to talk on this trip. You might want to try it. It could help."

"I don't understand." Seven tilted her head. The Doctor gave her a knowing look that unnerved her. Just what did he know about her feelings?

"Talking about what bothers you or what's been causing frustration can help relieve stress, help your mind to reset itself."

"You are talking about my failure to identify the matter making up the Mud Hole."

"Not failure, but yes, that is what I am referring to." The Doctor sighed and put a soft hand on her metal-encased one. "I understand you have conflicted feelings about working with all these new, unfamiliar faces, even if it's just for a short time, but you're working yourself too hard by not taking the time to eat and rest." Seven looked about to retort so the Doctor drew out the argument that always won her over. "Besides not being good for your health, it is counterproductive and inefficient."

Seven grew irritated that the Doctor would go for such a low blow when he knew so little about the situation. He didn't know and couldn't know how being on Voyager was plaguing her. Still, she held her tongue. It wasn't his fault for thinking her problems lay in the social conundrums that were confusing to her a few years ago.

The Doctor continued, perfectly unaware of the growing frustration in his companion. "If you're stressed and not getting sufficient rest, your mind can't focus. You need to relax, even if it is just regenerating for a few hours… and eat."

"And discussing my failure?"

"It's not a failure, just a problem you haven't solved yet, and you never know. You might get some help or inspiration if you discuss it with someone else."

"I see." They were silent for a minute.

She stared at the way his hand covered hers and he stared at the way the lights shone on her hair. Her stomach fluttered as her mind drifted to her time with Chakotay. He had often held her hand much the same way.

The Doctor gulped nervously and once again mourned that she would never feel for him what he felt for her.

"I dream," said Seven quietly.

"Pardon?"

"I… have been having nightmares."

"For how long?"

"A few nights." She thought hard, trying to come up with an explanation that could accurately describe the sensations. "They feel real, but not like it did with Unimatrix Zero." She thought back to the dreams she had experienced when Voyager's entire crew had to be put in stasis. The Doctor didn't know about those.

"I see. Well, as I told you before, dreaming is a normal part of humanity. I understand nightmares are not enjoyable, but they too are considered a means for your subconscious mind to work through what it's experienced during the day."

"It did not feel that way."

"If you're worried about it, I can give you a check up on the way to the cargo bay."

Seven nodded.

-----------------------

After their meal the Doctor took her to sickbay and scanned Seven from head to toe. He found nothing, but allowed her to use a cortical monitor for the night. The Doctor walked with Seven back to her alcove and bade her a good night when she was settled in. She wished him a good night as well and he left without a second thought. Seven, on the other hand, could not keep her mind steady.

She had followed the Doctor into the cargo bay and allowed him to steer her into the alcove, but she wavered in actually starting the regeneration cycle. Despite the Doctor's assurances and the cortical monitor, the nightmares were still a source of fear. It was too strange and unusual to feel something was real that couldn't be. Every time she settled in to regenerate, she would dream of Borg and every time she woke, she wished for Chakotay. It was difficult to tell which experience was causing more distress.

The fear she felt during and directly after these nightmares paralyzed her. It made her feel weak, which made her feel angry. The Borg were gone. There was nothing to fear. And yet, she couldn't help feeling terrified of starting a regeneration cycle. For the first time in her life, she felt cornered, like a victim.

Still, she needed rest. Pushing her feelings aside, she stepped into the alcove and closed her eyes.

-----------------------

In the morning, Seven returned to sickbay and informed the Doctor that she had experienced the same dream. He agreed to take a look at the cortical monitor and review his findings over dinner.

At 2000 hours, the Doctor met Seven in astrometrics. "Good news, Seven. I detected nothing out of the ordinary."

"Nothing?" She was relieved, but only for a moment as it dawned on her that without an illness, there was no cure. She would have to continue to dream until her subconscious mind decided to stop.

"Not even a nanoprobe out of place. There were some hormonal changes when you started to dream, but that's normal when experiencing fear or excitement."

"Sickbay to the Doctor," said Dr. Kal's voice over the comm. badge.

The Doctor sighed and gave Seven a long-suffering look, but answered just the same. "Go ahead."

"I could use an extra pair of hands down here. There was a bit of an accident in the lower decks."

"I'm on my way." The Doctor stood and smiled at Seven, who bobbed her head. "Sorry, Seven. I still want you to go straight to your alcove and regenerate after your meal," he said and shook a finger at her. His orders given, he turned and jaunted back to sickbay.

With a sigh of her own, Seven pushed her plate away. There was still over half her meal left, but she just couldn't eat anymore. As for regenerating, that was an unappealing option. It was a problem she had never encountered before… the constant fear of her own mind.

-------------

Harry looked up in time to see Chakotay's head drop to his chest and snap back up. It had been a long day. Chakotay had not taken a break or eaten for most of it and had been withdrawn and brooding for the entire shift. An idea came to Harry. He checked the computer and was pleasantly surprised to discover Seven was already in the mess hall. "Captain?"

It took a moment for Harry's voice to register in Chakotay's tired mind. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

"Sir," he tried to keep his tone as subtle as possible, "I can keep an eye on things for awhile."

-------------

Seven had just decided to return to astrometrics when someone else walked into the mess hall. Unfortunately, neither one saw the other as the doors opened and the result was a full on crash.

"Seven!" Chakotay's surprise was quickly replaced with concern as she held her nose. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Are you all right?"

"Yes." She brought her hand away and checked for signs of blood. "I am undamaged."

"Good."

They stood facing each other awkwardly, neither saying anything.

It was Seven who broke the silence in her own fashion. She bobbed her head and moved around him. "I better get back to work."

"Do you have to?"

She raised her brow, looking squarely at him now.

"I'd like some company if you wouldn't mind," Chakotay said with a smile. It took effort, but he kept his tone in control, his expression like it used to be before they dated, like the gentle inquiry of a friend for companionship. It felt like six steps back in order to take one forward.

He watched, curious, as she looked around the mess hall as though she was looking for something in particular. There were only two other people in the mess hall at the moment so Chakotay was confused as to what she could be searching for. Whatever it was, she appeared satisfied if not a little uncertain when she turned back to him.

It was to his great relief that she nodded once and moved to sit down again. Her first inclination was to head for the corner space once more, but Chakotay, after ordering a salad and a tea, steered her over to a seat in the middle where the stars were fully visible.

He didn't eat right away and neither of them spoke for awhile, just observed each other.

"I didn't expect you to be here," said Chakotay. He reached for his dinner as he said it, feeling the silence had gone on long enough.

"Should I not be?"

"Of course you can. It's just that I know you. I thought you would have to be dragged out of astrometrics."

She smiled at that. "I almost did. The Doctor insisted I join him for a meal. I believe he simply wanted company."

"Or to look after you."

Seven smiled. "He is very protective."

"He cares about you, Seven. He wants to make sure you're all right." Chakotay swallowed the lump in his throat, biting down the impulse to admit that was his goal as well. It was too soon for such an admittance. "You know you can talk to me… to any of your friends about anything, don't you?"

"Captain?" That word, that single word carried with it all the tension that Chakotay saw in her. She was not stupid and had sensed the unspoken words. It was already making her nervous. She was sitting back in her seat and had a mixture of confusion and fear in her eyes.

"Seven, I…" It wouldn't have taken much. All he needed to say were three words, but they wouldn't come out. He didn't know if it was because he was afraid or because he knew it was too soon for her to accept such a confession. The look on Seven's face and his own doubts about whether they were meant to be together took over.

He wanted to say that he loved her as more than a friend, more than he thought he could love anyone, that he worried about her because she was no longer with him, because she was drifting away from everyone she knew, because she showed signs of slipping back to a personality that was not her real self, because she was so vulnerable and didn't even know it.

He wanted to say all that and so much more, but swallowed it and said simply, "I want you to take it easy. I know you can solve any problem put before you, but I don't want yourself to get sick over it. Theta radiation is no easy thing to get around."

"I will try to not let you down."

"Good, because I'd hate to have to order you to sleep." He smiled at her and was gratified when one of her own ghostly smiles appeared.

She rose to leave, her movements lithe and somewhat hesitant, as though she could sense there were things unsaid between the two of them.

He didn't stop her, just turned to look out at the stars as he ate, allowing her to return to work. He couldn't help giving her a last smile and teasing her just a little. "Remember, I don't want to have to order you to regenerate."

"I will not allow myself to get sick," she promised with a smile.

Because he was not watching, he did not see the way she hesitated at the door, as though struck by an idea. She practically ran from the mess hall.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Doctor straightened the tools on the tray for the hundredth time. One of the nurses glared at him. He was bored. Once the two doctors had taken care of the injuries from the accident there was nothing else for him to do. He could return to the mess hall and see if Seven was still there, but he highly doubted she would be.

The Doctor was on the verge of turning off his program when inspiration hit. He should take up his project from the Think Tank. He had brought it along. Unfortunately, Seven was too busy to help him test it. She hadn't had time for him for awhile now. Even the time he managed to coax from her was too little for his liking. Still, he could play around and take his mind off the boredom.

Jared Kal was just finishing a report before he went to bed. Intrigued, he watched from the office as the Doctor's device was brought out and worked on. When Seven's voice came over the intercom, they both jumped to answer it at the same time.

"Doctor…"

"Yes," they answered simultaneously.

"Doctors," in astrometrics Seven smiled at the eager tones, "I think your expertise will be needed to help me study the nebula particles."

The Doctor answered first. "The nebula, really? I'll be right down."

"We both will," said Kal, nodding to one of the nurses who would inform them if they were needed.

----------------------

"Eight hundred unidentifiable elements?" said Tom, disbelief written on his face.

"That's not possible," Harry agreed.

As one, the other occupants of the debriefing room looked from Harry and back to Seven of Nine. Chakotay, Chief Engineer Fergus, and the two officers from the Regulus looked ready to argue with her as well. Dr. Kilano, a civilian scientist on the Regulus who had been in charge of their studies on the nebula material looked stunned, as did Captain Jim Silas.

Seven nodded slightly in Tom and Harry's direction from her place beside the screen. Data on the elements and their corresponding pictures flashed by. "I was surprised as well. It is unlikely, but obviously not impossible." She placed a data Padd on the table and slid it towards Tom. "The evidence is behind a containment field in sickbay."

Harry's youthful face crinkled in confusion. "Sickbay?"

Seven nodded to him and brought up a picture of what looked to be densely-packed pebbles, but which Seven informed them was actually a strand of alien DNA. "The medical equipment was necessary to properly examine the biological components." Her lips twitched into a semi smile. "It was why I had difficulty analysing the sample. This is unlike any genetic material I have ever seen and I was not expecting to have to look for such complicated biological elements in a nebula."

"Neither were we," agreed Silas.

"This nebula," said Dr. Jared Kal, "biological and everything else that's in it, is emitting high amounts of unusual radiation and energy." The Trill doctor glanced at Seven. "No wonder your instruments weren't able to get an accurate scan of the area. I thought it was odd that it had biological components, but eight hundred unknown…"

"The type of radiation and energy being emitted aren't even known to us yet. I think this is the first instance of it occurring in the Beta Quadrant," said the Doctor.

"I concur, though, there don't seem to be any adverse effects from it yet," said Dr. Kilano. Voyager's two doctors nodded in agreement.

"Wait a minute," said Tom, waving a hand. "I thought it was theta radiation blocking our sensors."

"It is part of the problem," Seven conceded. "However, I don't believe the source of the theta radiation is the nebula itself. Rather, it is something inside the nebula. I am attempting to recalibrate sensors to compensate."

Chakotay rubbed his chin, staring at Seven's report. "You know what this reminds me of?" He looked up at her. She raised her brow in reply. "Fluidic space. The look of it and composition look almost the same."

"I had thought of that," said Seven. "You are correct in observing the similarities. However, fluidic space is composed of different substances and does not have this type of genetic material infused with the matter."

"What about that one?" Tom asked, waving a hand at the bright blue that could be seen outside the large windows. "What do we know about it so far? It would be a good hiding spot for a starship."

"There is nothing abnormal about that nebula itself that we can detect. However, there is a jamming frequency interfering with scans."

"From a ship?" Silas leaned forward, hands clutching each other. He had not been too sure about this Seven character when he first saw her. No one should be able to keep their posture that perfect, but he had to admit now that she knew her stuff.

"Possibly," Seven conceded. "I can't tell at this point. The signal degrades the further it gets from the nebula. It may be natural from the radiation being emitted or it could be artificial."

"Can you get around that?" asked Silas.

Seven nodded, back straight and chin high. "Yes, I can."

"Good," said Chakotay. "I suggest that we make our way to the blue nebula and find out just what that signal is."

"Maybe one of us should stay here," said Jared Kal. All eyes turned to him. "We need to keep studying this new form of nebula. I'm not saying the Enterprise doesn't deserve one hundred percent of our attention, but you have to admit that its appearance coincides too closely with the disappearance to be a fluke." Around the table, the Starfleet crew nodded.

"We should not divide our resources," said Seven as though her words were the final argument. While her voice was calm and authoritative, Seven could not help but feel nervous. At the mention of splitting up, the details of her dreams rushed back and she remembered all too well the crushing loneliness and fear of being alone forever. She knew it was silly, that it had only been a dream, but her heart pounded in her ears just the same.

Chakotay looked at her a bit strangely, contemplating the fear in Seven's eyes before making his decision.

Captain Silas, ever one to think ahead, interjected with a solution. "The Regulus has probes. We can leave one to take readings as we investigate the rest of the area."

---------------------

Voyager and the Regulus came up to the blue nebula together, the haunting light shimmering off the metal of the ships like water in a pool. Harry had aptly named it the Pluto Nebula for its colour and water-like appearance. The two ships took up positions beside the aura of shimmering blue, but didn't enter.

"Anything?" Chakotay asked Seven of Nine. An hour after arriving, he had taken a special trip down to astrometrics just to get a clearer picture of her progress interpreting the massive amount of information being sent to her from the sensors and other parts of the ship, which was relying greatly on her skills to navigate through the complicated asteroid field. He also wanted to see her for himself, judge how she was holding up. Besides being a little pale and harried looking, she appeared fine. Knowing her, she was likely hiding any problems.

"No," she said. The gruffness of her tone would have made others think she was angry at the interruption in her work. However, after several years of brushing elbows and sometimes tempers with her, Chakotay knew she was simply frustrated at her inability to force a confession from the mysterious phenomena.

Glad to be out of his chair after several hours of simply sitting and overseeing the work of others, Chakotay decided to loiter a bit and leaned against the console in front of the main screen. At least, he told himself it was a desire to stretch a bit that kept him in astrometrics longer than necessary.

"I take it it's not going well," he said, unable to repress a small smile even as she moved brusquely to a station a bit further from him.

"That," she said with uncharacteristic emphasis, "is an understatement. I haven't been able to obtain any new data on the Pluto Nebula or its surrounding space. The frequency is still blocking our sensors. I can't tell if it's from a starship or natural."

"Well, we're here now so you'll have plenty of opportunity to get around its mysteries. You figured out the Mud Hole. I'm sure you'll figure this out soon enough," he said with a kind smile.

Seven glanced at Chakotay's seemingly relaxed stance with irritation. With no other choice, she strode back to the main console and tried her best to ignore her commanding officer's unsettling presence. It was made all the more difficult by the way she could feel his eyes on her. What frightened her most was that she felt more comfortable with him there. As soon as he had entered astrometrics, she had felt both ill at ease and comforted by his presence, like he was watching out for her, and when he said he had faith in her abilities, she believed it.

For a strange moment, it was like being connected to the Collective again. She knew what he was doing though she wasn't looking at him, could almost hear what he was thinking and feeling because she was too. Though they were individual people, it felt like they were connected.

The moment passed, however and when Chakotay shuffled uncomfortably and made to leave, she didn't know if it was because he had felt the same as her or if he had simply realized she was trying to ignore him.

"Okay, good work," he said. It was unnecessary to say that and he knew it, but nothing else came to mind. Thought of escape pressed him and Chakotay quickly backed to the doors, thinking he had worn out his welcome.

Despite her cold demeanour, Seven wanted to call him back. The suppression of the desire to call came automatically, forced her head down and her eyes to focus on her work, but it wasn't enough. The doors opened and she knew it was her last chance to ask him to stay. He would if she asked and in the middle of space, the reasons for their division seemed trivial. Old habits warred with the pain in her chest and the fluttering in her stomach.

In a second, Seven made her decision and turned to call Chakotay back to ask him for a few more minutes of his time, companionship, lunch, anything she could think of on the spot, but the doors were already closing. Her courage failed to be roused enough for her to shout down the hallway for him. She had missed her chance. She was alone again, but wasn't that what she had wanted? Wasn't it better for them this way?

Seven frowned as the doors closed off the sight of his retreating form. She found that her shoulders did not feel lighter without his presence but that they and her heart felt heavier. Since both feelings could only be her imagination, she tried to pay them no mind and bent with new vigour to the tasks at hand. Perhaps it was just the lack of sleep catching up with her.

------------------

Tom, in charge of the bridge while Chakotay was down in astrometrics, turned at the sound of opening doors. He was only mildly surprised to see his captain. "Any progress?" he asked.

Chakotay didn't slow his swift pace as he passed his command chair for his ready room. "No," he said and disappeared once again.

Tom looked over his shoulder at Harry, who shrugged.

Within the confines of his own office, Chakotay once again berated himself. Idiot, he thought. He hadn't been able to resist going to see Seven, but it seemed that every time he did try to initiate contact, there was more evidence that she wanted nothing to do with him. It was even worse when she showed signs of withdrawing further.

Feeling more defeated than he had in a long time, Chakotay sighed. He was gaining no positive results, out of ideas, and fast losing patience. Perhaps, he thought, it will be better to let her go. Even the thought gave him a chill in the pit of his stomach, but he still wondered if it wasn't the right thing to do.

---------------

Beneath closed eyes was a world of snow and ice and a lone Borg drone. Seven touched her hair. It was pinned up, like she used to keep it. She didn't remember pinning it up. Then again, she didn't remember coming to this frozen planet either.

Her gaze drifted up to the sky. It was perfectly clear and blue, but there was no visible sun, clouds, or moon. All around her was a desolate plane. Not even mountains or a glacier was visible.

Seven was alone, completely and utterly alone. Her breathing came in short, trembling gasps as she turned in a circle, looking for any sign of another being. It occurred to her that this was all just a dream. She tried to tell herself that, but it did no good. The anxiety built progressively.

Her left hand caught her attention. The metal implants were just as they had always been, but her fingers looked… grey. She wiggled the index finger. It was definitely grey, like that of a corpse.

As she watched, the deadness spread up from her fingers to cover her whole hand. She gasped, trying to think of something to do, some way to stop the infection, but there were no medical tools nearby and in no time at all, it had spread up her arm and over her whole body. Seven reared her head back as she felt coldness creep up her neck and over her face. When the deadness reached her eyes, everything changed.

Blue eyes met dozens of red ones. Seven struggled to breathe. A tiny voice in the back of her mind cried, but the rest of her was too frightened to hear.

This time she didn't bother trying to tell herself it was all just a dream. She trembled as one of the drones came towards her.

---------------

Three days later…

It had been awhile since Chakotay heard the bridge sound as it did now. He recognized it after a minute of thought. It was anticipation. Everyone kept working, but they seemed to do so with less noise than usual. Any talk was only what was necessary. Steps were quick and edgy. Even the computer seemed to sense something coming. It's usual beeps and whirring were quieter. The effect was eerie, like coming from an exuberant party into a graveyard.

When Seven's voice came over the comm. link, it almost echoed. "Seven of Nine to Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Seven."

"We are prepared to proceed. Please ready the deflector dish."

"Acknowledged." Chakotay nodded to Ensign Volopolous. She bent her head and immediately the computers came to life with new data.

Volopolous' console beeped loudly and she looked up at her captain in equal parts alarm and anticipation. "We are receiving a hail from inside the nebula, Captain." All noise on the bridge seemed to cease a moment. "It's from a Starfleet ship."

"Open channel."

Volopolous' fingers scurried over the console a second and she nodded to Chakotay.

Static erupted from the link and more than just a few people paused to listen in the hopes of hearing a voice, any voice. Chakotay too, could feel himself tensing.

"-- card of -- Enterprise we -- help -- crash," said the broken voice of Jean-Luc Picard. "There -- Starfleet -- many -- try -- infiltrate -- Starfleet -- help."

Chakotay and Paris' shoulders slumped in disappointment as they heard the message. The rest of the crew did not notice. They hadn't heard the distress message Starfleet had received, but Chakotay and Paris had.

"It's just a recorded message," said Tom as Chakotay sat down again and posed thoughtfully. "They must have sent out a transmitter."

Nodding in agreement, Chakotay continued to think as Tom broke the news to the rest of the crew. His mind grasped at every possible scenario that could have occurred for the Enterprise to send out a transmitter into this nebula. "It doesn't make sense," he said to no one in particular.

"No, it doesn't, but it could--"

"Tom, it doesn't make sense for them to do this. Why this nebula and this message? There's a lot that we're missing, but still nothing that would suggest an explanation. They could have sent this message out a number of ways, all of which would have resulted in a better transmission and they could have sent it from a different location. It's like they were leading us here. Either there was something about this sector that they really wanted Starfleet to see, which we're just not seeing, or they're still in there."

"You really think so?"

"I don't know," he admitted, "but I want to check every possibility."

"Seven of Nine to Captain Chakotay."

"Go ahead, Seven."

"The distress signal is a recorded message, but I believe there is a Starfleet vessel inside the nebula."

From the corner of his eye, Chakotay saw some of the crew paying closer attention. Tom was leaning forward in his chair, eyes wide and curious as they watched Chakotay.

"The radiation is still causing interference so I can't get a precise reading, but I am detecting a vessel inside, approximately the same size as the Enterprise. It's transmitting the signal."

The breath in Chakotay's lungs seemed to be heavier than normal. His words almost caught in his throat. "Are you sure?"

Seven paused. Chakotay pictured her bent head and alert eyes rechecking the data that had no doubt already been confirmed and reviewed three times before she even brought it to his attention. "Affirmative."

"Send a message to Silas about this and open a channel to the unknown craft."

"Ready to transmit," said Volopolous.

"Starfleet vessel, this is Captain Chakotay of the USS Voyager." They waited as the message was sent and hopefully received. A minute passed and Chakotay began again. "This is Captain Chakotay of the USS Voyager. We are responding to your distress signal, please identify yourselves."

It seemed forever as they waited. When the crackle of static and a grainy, male voice was heard, the whole bridge breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise."

"It's good to hear your voice, Captain. I'm Captain Chakotay of the USS Voyager, traveling with the USS Regulus. We've been sent to look for you."

"I'm afraid we ran into a little trouble out here. If you and a few of your crew could come over, we could use some help fixing our ship."

"There'll be an away team assembled and over there within the hour," said Chakotay. "I'll even give you a hand myself."

"Thank you, Captain." There was no hint of friendliness in the voice. "Picard out."

A moment of silence followed Picard's last words. Though there was great relief at having found the Enterprise, no one who witnessed the exchange between the captains could ignore the definite tension in Picard's words or tone. To all listening, he had sounded stilted, even angry.

The bridge of the Regulus appeared on the screen. Silas stood with his hands behind his back, his command team seated around him. They had been patched in and so had heard the conversation as well.

Even Harry Kim's eyes were wide with surprise. "Did anyone else find that…"

"Strange?" finished Tom. "Yeah, I sure did."

Harry stood straight, set on edge by the unusual conversation. "I don't know Picard very well, but that didn't seem right. If it's all right with you, Captain, I'd like the away teams to be… prepared."

Chakotay broke from his thoughts. "I agree."

"We'll be ready in fifteen minutes."

"We'll have to enter the nebula in order to beam onboard," Chakotay said, looking down at the report Seven had sent to him regarding the makeup of the blue nebula.

"Captain," Chakotay addressed Silas, "I'd like you to remain on board your ship." Silas started to object, but Chakotay preempted him. "If things do turn out to be dangerous, I don't want both our ships to be without captains."

Silas hid his disappointment well and agreed with the reasoning. "Understood. I'll send over my head of security, Commander Jule, in my place." He gestured to his left where a light-haired Bajoran stood at attention.

"Assemble a small team and be ready to pull them out of there if things go sideways." Silas' face disappeared and was replaced by the tranquil blue of the nebula. Chakotay turned to his own crew. "All right, Tom, you're in command until I get back. Harry, you're with me and I want all other members of the away team briefed and armed before we go. Make sure a lock is kept on all of us in case we need to transport out of there quickly."

"Aye, sir," said Harry.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Less than half an hour later, Chakotay, Harry Kim, two other members of the security team, and two engineers beamed aboard the Enterprise. Their weapons were in their belts and hidden in their clothing. Though such arming was not usual protocol, the tingling in all their spines suggested their precautions were not unfounded. They had all seen the state of the Enterprise before being taken to the transporter room. It was banged up, missing the starboard nacelle and looked like it had gone through a hell of a battle. No, caution was not something to be skipped.

The away team from the Regulus appeared beside the Voyager crew in a shimmer of light. Commander Jule and Chakotay nodded once to each other and moved forward to find their host.

They rounded a corner of the dark and broken Enterprise and there was Picard, along with ten officers. Their weapons were drawn and ready. Before Chakotay or any of his team could even think of reaching for their own phasers, another ten of Picard's people came around from the back, effectively surrounding the away teams.

"What's going on?" demanded Chakotay.

"Sorry," said Picard, "but we can't just take your word for it." His usually deep voice was even more so with the added weight of mistrust and weariness.

'"Word for it'? What the hell do you mean?" Commander Jule said.

The sharp scowl on Picard's face suggested they wouldn't get any answers until he was satisfied. "Search them."

A burly security officer confiscated their weapons. When Chakotay and Jule's team had been deprived of their arsenal, they were marched at gunpoint. The whole way, Picard's people kept a close eye on them and their fingers on the triggers of their weapons.

The away team didn't struggle or panic, though they remained alert and ready for action. Beside Chakotay, Harry Kim's expression was like stone. He didn't like being taken prisoner, no matter what the circumstances were.

Chakotay wasn't worried much about their situation. He knew that if there was no contact between the away teams and Voyager or the Regulus, they would be beamed back. Scans had confirmed that the Enterprise had weakened shields, easy enough to disable. However, he still wanted some answers and for the moment the best way to get them was to go along with Picard.

"Why the ambush, Picard?" No response. They all just kept walking down the damaged hallways of the ship to an undisclosed section. However, it didn't take long to realize that they were not heading towards the brig. They were in the same part of the ship as sickbay. Briefly Chakotay wondered if they had an outbreak of some kind. Maybe a virus had infected the crew or parts of the crew. The Mud Hole had after all been composed of some genetic material. Maybe some of that material was parasitical?

Inside sickbay, a grim, redheaded doctor and Commander Riker were waiting for them. Picard nodded to his second in command, but gave his full attention to the red-haired woman. "Dr. Crusher, are you ready?"

"Yes, sir." Looking just as cold as the tools she was using, she strode up to the away teams, took a bit of blood from each person and set the samples in a holder for analysis. She then had them each submit to a full scan on the diagnostic beds. It was only when she looked at the results that the wrinkles around her forehead lessened and she declared to Picard, "They're who they say they are."

Immediately, the whole group relaxed. As one, the crew of the Enterprise released their breath, muscles loosening and eyes becoming less cold. The guards relaxed their stances, returned the away teams' weapons, and left sickbay without more than a wave of Picard's hand as a command.

"What happened?" Harry asked, looking around himself at the evident damage. Sickbay had been cleaned as well as possible, but the damage done to it was still obvious.

Picard sighed and leaned against one of the beds as Crusher cleaned up the equipment. "First thing," he said, holding up a hand. "Are your ships safe and are they close?"

Commander Jule and Chakotay nodded. "The Regulus and Voyager had to enter the nebula to get close enough to transport," said Jule.

"I'm afraid it is necessary for us to stay hidden and an unfortunate side effect of the nebula's radiation is that it scrambles transporter and communication signals." He glanced around at the roughed-up sickbay. "It doesn't help that my ship is in pieces either."

"What happened?"

Picard paused to gather his thoughts. He knew he must look a wreck as they let him continue at his convenience. "We were attacked by a species I've never seen before. They didn't try to communicate with us or give any warning. They just fired these pods at us."

Harry broke in, something niggling in the back of his mind. "Pods?"

Picard nodded and moved to one of the consoles. "Here," he said, "I'll show you." He pulled up an image that had been recorded from the bridge. One of the long brown pods was barreling towards the Enterprise. It was too soft-looking to be described as a normal ship or weapon.

"We used evasive maneuvers, but they kept coming after us, firing weapons we couldn't counter. One struck the starboard nacelle. It sent out some sort of energy wave that overloaded our circuitry and shut down the warp core." He brought up the schematics of his ship. The simple schematic moved to the side to allow a similar image of a pod as it headed right towards the ship. The pod struck the starboard nacelle, but did not appear to cause any damage. Jean-Luc pointed a finger accusingly at the image. "See that?"

The away teams nodded.

"It just sat there. Our main sensors were down from the attack so I sent a team to see what it was. They claimed it was a ship, but with biological components that started to grow. They also said a creature came out of the ship and attacked them. They managed to get away without injury, but we had to separate the nacelle and destroy it in order to avoid widespread contamination."

"Do you have a sample of what the ship was made of?" asked Commander Jule. He failed to notice the looks on the faces of the Voyager crew, who were already taking a guess as to who the Enterprise's assailants were.

"No." Crusher spoke from behind them and came to stand beside Picard. He didn't seem to mind the interruption. He even gave her a look with something almost intangible, almost tender in it. Chakotay wondered just what the relationship was between the captain and red-headed doctor.

"They didn't have time," Beverly Crusher continued. "The whole attack took seconds and Geordi LaForge, our chief engineer, jettisoned the affected area almost immediately after. I reviewed the scans they took of the material, though, and I don't think it would have been wise to keep any of it onboard."

"It was already sending out tendrils, in a way, assimilating the material around it," said Chakotay. It felt like his voice had echoed. The statement hung in the air with Picard and Crusher's surprise before understanding dawned on their faces.

"I remember reading some of the files Voyager brought back," said Crusher. "You think this is one of the species you encountered in the Delta Quadrant?"

"Yes, though I don't know why they would be attacking us. We struck an accord. They deemed us to not be a threat to their space."

Harry straightened, the memory of his first encounter with the species still painfully etched into his mind. It had not been pleasant. "I don't think we should jump to conclusions, especially since they did agree to a truce. Still, it does sound like Species 8472."

----------------------------

"Species 8472?" Tom was not the only one surprised by the news. He looked around at the rest of the bridge crew and saw the same shock on most of their faces. The crew who had not been on Voyager's trip through the Delta Quadrant were a bit lost, but recognized that there was something of significance going on. Some of them were thoughtful for a moment before the name registered. Tom could almost sense their closer attention pressing him as he talked to Chakotay over the radio - sound only as the radiation from the Pluto Nebula was interfering too much to get a clear visual.

"Harry took a look over their data and we're sure. It's them."

"But --"

"I know. They must have decided to break the deal. Since they didn't send any messages, we can only guess at their motives."

"Do we know if their ships are still in the vicinity?"

"Negative. Sensors went down on the Enterprise before they made it into the nebula. There hasn't been any sign of them since, but we can't rule anything out."

"I suppose it's safe to say everything that's happened out here is connected to them. Do you think they're responsible for the appearance of the Mud Hole and the death of Beta 12?"

"That's our assessment so far. Send a message to Starfleet. If things are what they seem, I don't want to go up against a whole species as aggressive and powerful as Species 8472 with just three vessels, one already heavily damaged. Brief them on what's happened so far and remind them if you have to that this species almost wiped out the Borg and could do the same to us if they choose to." Chakotay still felt wary about assuming Species 8472 were the perpetrators, but evidence was against them and if they had attacked, Starfleet needed to be warned.

"Yes, sir. Are you staying on the Enterprise?"

"I'm going to get as much information as I can from Picard while we try to get the Enterprise moving again. To be honest, I don't think it's going to happen. They're missing a nacelle, have too much damage to go to warp, and the rest of the ship is not doing much better."

On the Enterprise, Chakotay looked around at the sparking wiring and singed walls of the once pristine ship. They could make do with only one nacelle, but there was too much damage overall. The Enterprise wouldn't be able to go to warp. No matter what happened, the Enterprise would have to be led back to Earth. If they did have to enter battle, the ship would have to be evacuated.

"I think we'll need as many hands over here as Voyager and the Regulus can spare," said Chakotay.

--------------------

The reports of damage to the Enterprise were not exaggerated, thought Seven of Nine as she strode down just one of the charred and crumbling hallways. Beside Seven, Ensign Ugoli, one of the many engineers from Voyager, appeared to have the same thoughts. He grimaced at the sight of a destroyed console, just a smoking hole in the wall after its encounter with Species 8472.

"I've read the reports Voyager brought back on Species 8472, but still," he said. They turned into a small alcove where an entrance to the Jefferies tubes was already open. The door lay flat on the ground, torn from its hinges. Ugoli's voice echoed slightly through the hatch. "This is incredible."

Seven gave him a reproachful look. "You doubt another species would have the capacity to outperform a Starfleet craft such as the Enterprise?" she said as she climbed into the tubes.

To Ugoli's credit, he didn't show any sign that he was at all fazed by her question or the tone it was delivered in. "No," he climbed in after her, "I just find it amazing the kind of firepower they must have to do this amount of damage in less than five minutes to one of the best ships in all of Starfleet. Even you must know about the Enterprise's history. You have to admit, it is kind of frightening."

"The Borg do not feel fear. It is irrelevant and counterproductive."

"I see." The tone was perfectly impartial.

They came up to a clump of frayed and unresponsive wiring. Together, they sat with crossed legs to work. "However," said Seven, thinking the situation called for honesty even though it felt like a betrayal of her innermost secrets, "I am no longer Borg."

Ugoli handed her the repair kit without comment.

Seven continued despite the difficulty of the small admission. "And it is… an alarming situation."

Ugoli smiled kindly. "We'll make a human out of you yet."

Seven nodded tightly and they turned to their work. Though she made sure to keep her expression neutral, something in Seven was disquieted by Ugoli's statement.

-------------------------

Ensign Jyoti and Ensign Pax had beamed over from the Regulus and started work in the Jefferies tubes an hour ago and were already feeling the strain of their work. There was enough damage to keep them busy for weeks.

"I could use a drink," said Pax. He wiped his crinkled brow with the back of his hand. "I don't think we'll finish any time soon."

Jyoti smiled. "It'll take at least a couple more hours." Her gaze wandered over their cramped location. "Better settle in."

They worked for another half hour before they had to sit back to rest. The hatch behind them was open to let in more air and keep the claustrophobia away. The two had just taken out a ration bar and split it when voices drifted into the tube from the open hatchway. At first neither Jyoti nor Pax paid attention. However, the upset tones became more apparent as the speakers came closer. By the time the speakers' words were distinguishable, Jyoti and Pax were listening intently.

"But it's not up to us. It's up to the captain and senior staff," said a woman's voice. She was being loud, both of them too caught up in their argument to be quiet.

"Ramman seems convinced Seven of Nine can't be trusted."

"Captain Chakotay trusts her, Ellie. That's good enough for me."

"Sarah, don't you get it? Look, so far he's been a good captain and I think we can trust him, but that's not to say that she hasn't pulled a fast one on him and the rest of the crew. She's Borg."

"Right, and Borg aren't known for their subterfuge."

"No, but they've assimilated species that are. What if they decided to take a page from the Cardassians?" The one woman's voice, apparently someone named Ellie, stopped. The arguing pair was standing at a corner just a few steps from the open hatch.

"Why are you so sure she's trouble?"

"I talked to Ramman. He said..." Ellie's voice cut off.

For a moment Pax and Jyoti stared at each other, thinking maybe the open hatch had been noticed. A new pair of footsteps echoed in the corridor and passed by.

"Maybe we should talk later," said Sarah.

Jyoti and Pax stared at each other, at a loss for words. Finally, Pax spoke. "Do you think we should tell someone about this?"

-------------------------

She worked alone in the dark and confined space. Ensign Ugoli had moved on to fix the next set of damaged connections, leaving Seven alone with her thoughts and the acrid smell of burnt metal.

It reminded her of their time in the Delta quadrant. How many times had she walked the broken corridors or crawled through the Jeffery's tubes to repair something damaged in battle? It mostly smelled, looked, and sounded like Voyager, but she couldn't shake the feeling that this starship, as similar as all Starfleet ships might be, felt different than Voyager. What surprised her most was that she missed the time she'd spent on Voyager. Unbidden, Chakotay's smiling face came to her mind's eye. It was so vivid that her stomach gave a jolt and she wished he were really there. But then reason - what she assured herself was reason - reasserted itself and she returned to her tasks, trying not to think of him again.

Though she had spent a good deal of time alone and in dark rooms, something about this situation did not sit well with Seven of Nine. With dismay, she wondered if she had gotten too used to companionship, even just the simple contact of two peers working on repairs.

Ugoli had not been bad company. He had been mainly silent except for their brief and disturbing conversation. Seven wondered if she asked to work with him again tomorrow, would it be feasible or permitted? There was no reason she could see to not be granted the simple request and resolved to do just that. The idea was no sooner formed in her mind than a faint flicker of light and shadow passed the opening of the Jefferies tubes she was working in.

She looked to the entrance, expecting to see Ugoli or one of the Enterprise's crew, maybe even Chakotay. Instead, emptiness greeted her. There was no one there. She was alone. She was completely and utterly alone. Not even her thoughts could fill the void. Before she could understand why, Seven began to feel fear. Her breathing came in uneven bursts. Her muscles grew tense.

No longer comfortable working, she turned her back on the doorway to put her tools back in the kit. Seven froze in place. A shadow had fallen once again. Something was blocking the light from the open hatch. In vain, she tried to tell herself that the sound of a metronome behind her was just her imagination and not a Borg drone. What would they be doing all the way out here, she tried to reason. It did no good. A sickly green light surrounded her and she spun around, ready to fight for her life. The completely alien and far more menacing face of Species 8472 leaped at her instead.

The scream of terror escaped Seven's lips before she could stop it.

With a gasp, Seven's eyes flew open and registered the familiar sight of Voyager's cargo bay. The green light from her regeneration unit reflected off the floor, illuminating the dim corners.

Still breathing heavily, Seven stepped out of the alcove and leaned against the machinery, her hand against the cold metal, unable to warm or be warmed by the touch. She ignored the warning tones of the computer telling her the regeneration cycle was incomplete.

Her internal clock told her it was 0200 hours. With a sob, Seven leaned her forehead against her hand, taking no pleasure in the way the coolness from the alcove passed onto her aching head. Indeed, how could she have any pleasure in anything again? She was Borg, if only former. Even as a human, she felt a myriad of displeasing things as she unsuccessfully tried to hold back tears. Fear, shame at feeling weak, anger at allowing her weakness, and an odd lump in her heart were just the foremost feelings she could identify.

What was to become of her?

---------------------

The Doctor strode with his usual confidence into astrometrics that night. He was so fully expecting to see Seven of Nine at her usual station, still hard at work that he began to talk before realizing the brunette in an ensign's uniform was not Seven.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. She had turned at his entrance with surprise. "I thought you were Seven."

The woman smiled amiably, no doubt wondering how he could confuse a tall blond with her. The Doctor wondered what the woman's name was.

"That's all right. She only stopped in after her shift on the Enterprise. I think she was going to regenerate."

"Seven? Are you sure?"

Her smile grew. "Well, I'm not positive. Someone came and dropped those off," she pointed a finger at two equipment kits off to the side, "and then said they were going to regenerate." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Last time I checked, Seven of Nine was the only one who could regenerate."

"Right," said the Doctor, suddenly unable to think of anything else to say. "Well, thank you."

The woman turned back to her work. "No problem."

The doors slid open for him, but he paused. Something about this woman unnerved him, made him feel… something he couldn't identify, though he was certain that if he had a stomach it would be doing cartwheels. "What's your name by the way?"

"Ensign Nancy Clemens." The bright smile lit her face once again. "You can call me Netty if you want."

Out of things to say and quite out of nerve, the Doctor nodded and left astrometrics.

When the Doctor entered the cargo bay, Seven of Nine was already in fresh clothing, looking ready for a new day of work. Only the tiniest bit of strain, caused by lack of sleep and a growing sense of impending doom, was beyond her ability to hide. Luckily, the Doctor was too distracted by his encounter with Ensign Clemens to notice. The two had a mostly silent dinner together and went their separate ways, she to the Enterprise to continue repairs alone and he to the oblivion of Voyager's computer system.

-----------------------

Helping the Enterprise's crew finish their repairs took three days. Even that simply allowed them to limp out of the nebula and follow between Voyager and the Regulus towards friendlier space.

A more unnerving problem was the lack of response from Starfleet. A message had been sent to apprise them of the situation. Picard had even included a letter to be delivered to each of the nine crewmembers he had lost, but there had been no acknowledgement that the information had been received.

The three captains decided to make their way to the edge of the system and try to send another message from there. They were still unwilling to leave the area completely in case some new clue to explain the motivations of Species 8472 presented itself. Still, everyone feared what would happen if Species 8472 came back.

It took several hours, but the three ships finally made it to the edge of the system and sent their information. They settled in to wait, each ship keeping an eye out for potential attackers.

It happened at 0400 hours.

Seven's voice came over the comm. to the bridge. Something in her tone, noticeable only to those who had worked with her before, made Chakotay and Tom sit straighter, ready for bad news. "Captain, there is a rift opening a hundred kilometers to starboard." Alone in astrometrics, Seven forced her tired thoughts to focus on the controls. The giant screen flickered from one image to another, data scrolling down the side too fast for a normal human to read. "It's a rift to fluidic space."

"On screen," said Chakotay. The brown nebula suspended in space came into view. It indeed looked like a mini version of the Mud Hole.

"Something is coming through," Seven's voice warned.

Like torpedoes from a starship, three of Species 8472's pods exited the nebula. They headed right for the three ships. Both Voyager and the Regulus sent out hails requesting a ceasefire and a chance to negotiate. No sign was given that the hails had been heard. The pods fired on the Starfleet vessels as soon as they were within range.

The first hit took down Voyager's shields to 10 percent. Chakotay didn't voice his concern, but he knew his thoughts were shared by Tom. Voyager should have been able to handle more than that. Species 8472 had developed different weapons since their last encounter.

The Enterprise took a few hits as well. With each strike their shield strength dropped. No maneuver they performed allowed them to dodge Species 8372's ships. The flickering of the shields made it obvious they weren't going to last.

Onboard the Enterprise, chaos reigned. The hits were taking their toll not just on the systems but also on the people. Sickbay was filling up and there were more injuries being inflicted every second. The bridge was hit the worst. Rubble strewn over the deck was smoking and burnt and the few officers still on their feet could hardly input commands with all the shaking and jarring.

"Shields are down to ten percent," said Riker.

Picard nodded grimly and allowed his people to do what they could, but he knew it was going to be a losing battle. He didn't need a report to know his ship was falling apart. He looked to Deanna Troi, one of the few people he trusted with his life. Only she and Riker remained from the command team, unharmed and at their stations. The worry he saw in her eyes settled his mind. He knew what to do.

It was time to evacuate the ship. He was about to give the order when a hit from Species 8472 hit them hard. Deanna's grip slipped and she fell to the floor. Picard and Riker each gave a cry of concern, but they had no time to complete so much as a word.

A pipe from the wall burst, showering the deck with sparks, debris and steam. Had Deanna still been in her chair, she would have taken the full brunt of the explosion. As it was, bits of the wall fell on her, Picard, and Riker.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"The Enterprise is hailing," said Volopolous. "It's also being transmitted to the Regulus."

"Onscreen," said Chakotay, expecting to see a lot of damage and a roughed up crew. Instead, he saw Deanna Troi on the floor, checking on her captain and commander. An ensign was the one making the hail.

"Our shields are failing and our captain is down," said the ensign.

Silas' voice came through the three-way transmission. "Evasive maneuvers and --"

Blood pounded in Chakotay's brain and he made a quick decision. "Evacuate the Enterprise."

"Captain?" Silas was thrown off guard at being trumped.

"Trust me. They won't make it without shields."

"Very well."

The ensign nodded and the image disappeared. A moment later, they could see escape pods ejecting from the ship and heading into the Pluto Nebula. Species 8472 was too busy attacking the large ships to bother with the escape pods. Chakotay breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the helpless pods disappear.

--------------------------

Captain Silas held onto the arms of his command chair with a white-knuckled grip as his crew ran to their stations with the activation of Red Alert. On the giant screen in front of him was a growing mass of brown material much like what they had seen from the Mud Hole. He looked to Commander Imani Roux at his side. Her dark eyes met his. They mirrored his own growing fear.

Lieutenant Ael Dykstra, the red lighting glinting off his Katarian features, bent close to his console. "The Enterprise has been evacuated. Those who couldn't make it to escape pods were transported aboard Voyager."

"Good." Silas raised his voice, directing his orders to Lieutenant Teya Ackeela, who was readying herself at the helm for the inevitable. "Get us out of here. Use whatever evasive maneuvers you have to."

"Aye, sir."

------------

Voyager returned fire, but it had no effect on the brown vessels.

"Evasive pattern delta five."

Six pods were firing on Voyager, surrounding them so there was no escape without a full on collision with the infectious pods Species 8472 used as ships.

Chakotay hit his communication badge. He was aware of his voice sounding strained and commanding. "Seven, we could use your help up here."

"I'll be there in five minutes. I have to recalibrate the --"

"No, now."

Chakotay sat tensely, only able to watch as his people did what they were trained to - avoid being shot. Voyager and the Regulus dodged attack after attack with mild success. Chakotay grew impatient and hit the communications badge again. "Seven, astrometrics can wait. I need you up here."

Tom didn't take his eyes off the screen. "I don't see how she can help us."

The doors opened once more and Seven strode through, seemingly unfazed by the rocking and shuddering of the ship. "Neither do I," she said and took her customary console behind the captain's chair.

Chakotay gritted his teeth as they were jolted again by phaser fire. "You've had more experience dealing with Species 8472 than any of us." He glanced down at the display at his elbow and back again at the battle taking place on the view screen. "If you've got any information or tricks up your sleeve, now is the time to mention it."

She gripped the console with one hand and punched in commands with the other. "When we last encountered Species 8472 they allowed me to examine some of their technology in depth." She caught Chakotay's eyes. He saw there a request for permission and a hint of something that looked like doubt. "They have advanced since then," her eyes flickered to the scorch marks already on the Regulus, "but I may be able to adapt our systems to compensate."

He nodded once and turned back to the view screen. "Whatever you can do."

Seven was unnerved to say the least. Were she not busy inputting commands, her hands would have been shaking. Species 8472 was not an easy enemy to get around. They had nearly destroyed her last family, the Borg. They could just as easily do the same to Voyager.

Chakotay chose that moment to look at her. His gaze was lingering and almost bold. Seven felt that he somehow knew. Of course he knew her well enough to guess that she would be anxious in a battle with Species 8472. However, his eyes and body language suggested he wasn't so much worried about her ability to perform as he was concerned for her.

The Regulus passed in front of the view screen, pursued closely by three pods. It was returning fire wildly. Its shields were down and only some quick thinking on the part of their pilot was allowing them to remain intact. The starship dodged and swerved with impressive speed and acrobatic skill.

"Nice," said Tom.

It managed a particularly unusual twist out from between two of the three pods. The Regulus took the opportunity to speed away when the pods collided together, both trying to close in from opposite sides of the starship. The pods were agile vessels, but were flying too fast to avoid a full on collision with each other. The third vessel apparently could not or would not follow them at warp. It turned its attention to Voyager.

"Hull breach on Deck 4," cried Ensign Volopolous from ops.

Like a cloud, Seven's concern for them all settled on her mind. Species 8472 was the only species the Borg had ever really had to fear and now it seemed they had turned their full attention on humanity… on Voyager. She clenched and released her trembling hand and returned to her task with more determination, ignoring the haze that worry was casting on her thoughts. Her nightmares would not become reality if she could help it and she would.

"Hull breach, Deck 8."

"Sorry, sir," said Ellie Horne. Voyager dipped quickly, barely avoiding a hit. "I'm doing my best."

"Just keep at it, Lieutenant." He saw an opening. "Pattern delta four." They once again barely avoided the pods.

Species 8472 apparently grew tired of playing with them and powered up for a killing strike, three vessels joining together their weapons.

"Seven?"

"I have it." She straightened, job complete.

He could sense the crew holding their breath. "Fire at will." The ship to their immediate right fell to pieces. Relief flooded Chakotay. He didn't need to turn around to know Seven felt likewise.

The first ship's destruction was followed by two more as Voyager punched a hole through the perimeter and escaped to warp.

Voyager fired behind it as it went, but the vessels had already started to adapt to Seven's modifications. The next vessel hit was damaged, but not destroyed.

------------------------

Voyager caught up with the Regulus. It had stopped to wait for Voyager once Species 8472's vessels stopped their pursuit. They had been on the verge of returning to try and help when suddenly the battle had changed in Voyager's favor. In amazement, the crew of the Regulus had watched Voyager's phasers destroy the pods with apparent ease.

The Regulus was hailed by Voyager as the two ships drew together once more. "On screen," said Silas. Captain Chakotay's face appeared before them. "Damage?"

Chakotay sighed. "A few hull breaches, but nothing we can't recover from. We were lucky; no casualties. How is the Regulus holding up?"

"We lost shields completely and our warp core is down, but they should be operational in two hours." Silas thought luck didn't cover it. They had just experienced a miracle to not have been destroyed. "What happened? How did you destroy those ships?"

"Seven of Nine managed to adapt our weapons," said Chakotay. He nodded to the ensign behind him at ops. "We're sending you instructions on how to configure your weapons. We're still working on adapting the shields."

"Understood. Silas out." The view screen changed to the blackness of space once more. Silas directed his orders to his security and operations officers. "Whatever enhancements they suggest, install them immediately. I also want continuous scans of surrounding space. No need to be caught with our pants down."

"I'll supervise our progress myself, Captain," said Commander Roux. Her steady, deep voice calmed Silas more than anything else.

Lieutenant Teya Ackeela turned to him from her pilot's seat. Her hands were still trembling from the adrenaline rush. "You think they'll be back soon?" It had taken all her skill to avoid the pods in their brief encounter. She wasn't looking forward to having to do it again.

Silas shook his head. "I don't know, but I highly doubt they'll wait for us to get reinforcements."  
----------------

"Report," said Chakotay as soon as he set foot in astrometrics. His brisk pace stopped at the sight on the view screen.

Ensign Clemens tapped in a command and brought up a list of data to the side of the view screen. "We don't know what it is yet, but we're working on it."

Seven kept her attention on her console. "I believe we may have an explanation for Species 8472's actions."

"You have no idea what that is?" He slowly came up beside Seven, his attention focused on the display of the Mud Hole. In the centre of the brown waves was an image of an alien structure.

"I'm not sure. It appears to be the source of the theta radiation."

"Let's see." Chakotay took a console and began looking through their scans with them.

An hour later and they all stood shoulder to shoulder, looking up at their findings, which still explained next to nothing. "If this is what they're hiding, why did they allow us to get so close?" asked Seven. "They allowed us to take a sample and leave."

"There's something else going on here," said Clemens.

Chakotay nodded. "Let's keep looking."

----------------

The next meeting took place on Voyager and had a dismal-looking crew. Captain Silas and Commander Jule had transported over from the Regulus. Chakotay, Tom, Fergus, and Seven filled the spots for Voyager. Only Geordi La Forge was left from the Enterprise's senior staff, awake and able to attend the briefing.

No messages had yet been received from Starfleet, but at least they now knew why. Silas' operations officer, Lieutenant Ael Dykstra, had discovered a dampening field blocking messages from coming in and out of the area. It was anyone's guess as to how long the dampening field had been up or how far it extended.

"Okay, so they're opening rifts from fluidic space and attacking anyone in the region," said Fergus. "Why?" He spread his hands. "There's nothing out here. What are they doing?"

Commander Jule, the Regulus' security officer thumbed through a Padd. "They destroyed a planet that posed no threat to anyone."

"They gave no warning whatsoever," said La Forge, "and disappeared when they thought the Enterprise was destroyed. They have no base set up, no planets occupied or people conquered. The only major casualty in over two weeks is Beta 12. This is a strange way to wage war."

"They must be waiting for something," said Commander Jule.

Captain Silas nodded. "We'll have to estimate a time of assault. It won't take forever for them to gather enough ships and supplies to attack and Starfleet will need to be ready. Is there any way to anticipate sooner when one of those rifts will open?"

"Yes," said Tom. "Our scans showed they produce the same radiation we found in the Mud Hole when they're about to open."

"They're hiding something."

The group turned to look at Seven, who had thus far been silent, watching the meeting with an impassive stare. There was a blinking console on the wall behind her.

"Care to elaborate?" said Silas.

As Seven spoke, she felt Chakotay watching her. The knowledge that his eyes followed her was partly pleasurable in that she felt cared for. However, it also brought pain as his company was something she had to give up. She pushed the feelings away and ignored his gaze.

"Species 8472 would not waste time destroying one planet at a time. Their methods include wide scale attacks on entire systems. Once they have succeeded in their first attack, they immediately move on to the next area. They live and work as a collective. They don't need to wait for reinforcements or more ships to be readied if they have already begun an attack. None of their actions are those of a species about to begin war with a galaxy. The logical conclusion is that there is something here and only here they are protecting."

Silas and his senior crew stared at Seven as though they were only now really seeing her. Silas took in the metal implants and her straight back. "You have something in mind, don't you?"

"The rifts are portals to fluidic space, but they don't remain as the Mud Hole does. Past rifts from and into fluidic space didn't produce the same materials as these phenomenona. Any products that did appear from the rifts into fluidic space dissipated after moments."

Seven nodded to him and Chakotay took over. He took a deep breath, steeling himself to explain what he knew was more speculation than tested fact. "We believe Species 8472 is going to use a different method to eliminate us. Beta 12 was just the beginning. If they change this universe into fluidic space, nothing will survive. They won't even have to expend the effort of attacking."

Silas folded his hands, curious. "It's an interesting theory, but we have no evidence."

"Yes," said Commander Jule, "and I thought in your own analysis of the material making up the Mud Hole you said it resembled but was not the same material as fluidic space."

"It is similar, but not the same. The Doctor and I concur it must be a precursor to fluidic space."

"That really is quite a leap. How do you know they are planning something so… well, diabolical?" asked Silas. "They could just be building their version of a spaceport, readying for fleets."

Chakotay shook his head. "No, she's right. They don't need spaceports. They can open those rifts anywhere."

Silas frowned. "Still, you don't look like the type to speculate on wild ideas. What made you think of this?"

Seven raised the Padd she brought from Voyager and slid it down the table to the captains. Silas picked it up and looked through its contents. "I continued to study the Mud Hole after we left," said Seven. "It has been growing in size since we arrived. In one more hour its circumference will have doubled."

Looking as grim as the news they had all received, Commander Jule folded his hands in front of him. "How quickly is it growing?"

"Within three days, it will encompass the whole system," said Seven so quickly it was as though she had expected to be asked that question. She allowed the others their mumbling and sour looks before continuing. "I used Voyager's deflector to enhance scans of the nebula and I found this." She reached over to the console, mounted on the wall and pressed a button. An image of a small, brown structure came up. It was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding nebula and was of the same design as Species 8472's vessels, but looked like a mini space station.

"I thought you said they don't make stations," said Silas.

"They don't," said Chakotay. His gaze shifted between Seven and the structure. "So, what is it?"

"I believe it is the device producing the nebula - or fluidic space. I have analyzed it as much as possible and it appears no larger than the Delta Flyer. It is drawing its energy and the materials for the nebula from a rift into fluidic space itself."

"Beta 12," said Fergus, "did you find anything to explain why it was destroyed?"

She fingered the controls once more and a number of various lines indicating radiation waves appeared. "These," she pointed to a set of steady lines, "are usual for systems such as this." She pointed to a drastically different set of lines with extreme peeks and dips. "This is not usual. It is a mixture of radiation and alternating energy signatures."

Tom looked worried. "Is that being emitted now?"

The corner of Seven's lips turned up in a ghost of a smile. "No. These readings were taken by the Enterprise upon their arrival in the system. I downloaded the files while onboard doing repairs. However, these radiation levels are not dangerous and are already dissipating. Here," she pointed to a small line hidden behind all the others. "It is a signature from a massive weapon discharge, likely from a number of Species 8472's vessels firing together."

The two captains looked to each other.

"I think it's fair to say we're not safe anywhere," said Silas with an ironic smile. "We might as well stay here and destroy that thing before everything becomes fluidic space."

Chakotay looked around the table at the worried, but determined faces. Silas and Commander Jule appeared to be unsure. He could already see the ideas spinning around in Tom Paris' head. "I'm open to suggestions."

"Nanoprobes," said Tom. Everyone stared at him, but he looked to Seven, who dipped her head in acknowledgement.

"I can modify a weapon to disperse the nanoprobes and close the rift if it is detonated from inside the structure."

"It worked before." Chakotay met the gazes from around the table.

"If we go near them, they'll destroy us," said Commander Jule. Both he and Silas looked skeptical. "How are we going to get close enough?"

"We'll find a way," said Chakotay.

"We need to make sure we cover all bases," said Silas. His gaze darted to Seven and back to Chakotay.

Chakotay narrowed his eyes, wary as to where this was going. It was only natural to get edgy over using nanoprobes, especially since Silas had so little experience with them. "Just what do you have in mind?"

"I think we need to revive Picard, get his input on the matter." Again, his gaze flickered briefly to Seven and back again. "He knows this territory and the enemy's tactics. Maybe he knows something that could help us."

Commander Jule backed up his captain. "No offence, but he's the one who's managed to dodge these creatures for over two weeks."

"As you know, Picard is unconscious in our sickbay, awaiting surgery, as is Commander Riker and a good number of other crew members," said Chakotay calmly. "Besides, we've had experience dealing with Species 8472."

"And you had to resort to using nanoprobes then as well," said Silas.

"Your point?"

"I'd rather not have to use that sort of method. I don't trust the technology."

"Borg technology is dangerous at the best of times," agreed and if I remember correctly, it doesn't leave any survivors."

Chakotay nodded, "I understand and I don't like the idea of waging all out war either, but we may not have any choice. We had an accord with them in the Delta Quadrant, but something obviously changed. Trust me, if they attack, we'll need every advantage we can get."

Silas shook his head. "There has to be another option."

"If you have an idea, I'm more than willing to hear it."

Silas took a closer look at Seven of Nine. His forehead crinkled as he narrowed his eyes a bit.

Seven stared right back. "You do not trust that the nanoprobes will be used… wisely."

"No offence," said La Forge, "but nanoprobes aren't something we've had luck in dealing with and --"

"And I am not someone you've had any experience with," Seven interrupted. "Is that correct?"

"I don't intend to start a war or destroy them," Chakotay assured the table. "In our experience," he gestured to the Voyager crew, "they know when they're outgunned and nanoprobes have always done the trick."

"And your last experience with them led to you handing over information on your nanoprobe weapons," said Jule. "How do we know they haven't already adapted, created defenses?"

"We don't." Chakotay looked to Seven, who raised her chin ever so slightly as though to say she was up to the challenge.

"We'll just have to adapt," said Tom.

Chakotay turned his attention to the Regulus crew and Geordi La Forge. "We can control the yield, keep the casualties to a minimum and Seven can program the nanoprobes to shut down once they've done their job." He held their gazes until they all nodded, assenting to his judgment. "What we have to figure out now is how to deploy them."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"This is suicide," said the Doctor, irritation evident in his sharpened eyes and quick movements. He had just extracted a second and third round of nanoprobes from Seven's bloodstream while she finished reprogramming the first batch.

Seven ignored his tone. "There are a number of risks." She decided not to tell the Doctor that Captain Chakotay happened to agree with his view. The Doctor handed her the next batch and she started on those. "However, it is the only weapon Species 8472 has not been able to adapt to yet."

The Doctor practically threw up his hands. "And how do we know that?" He went around the room, straightening things that were already tidy. "Admiral Janeway thought we had a truce. She shared our technology with them and that includes the nanoprobe-enhanced weapons."

Dr. Kal watched the two interact. He stood beside Seven, putting the modified nanoprobes into a capsule to be placed inside the torpedo they intended to use to deliver them. He had spent a good amount of time on the trip listening to the holographic doctor talk and sing. Dr. Kal wondered how this strange pair ever became friends.

Seven talked calmly, as though trying to pacify a child. "The reprogramming includes a number of alternative instructions on how to circumvent any adaptations Species 8472 has made since our last encounter."

The Doctor switched tactics. "Fine, but why did you volunteer do take the shuttle into the nebula yourself?"

"I am the only one with the ability or knowledge of how to provide and properly reprogram the nanoprobes should it turn out that these modifications don't work."

"Yes, but --"

"Are you able to produce nanoprobes?" Seven cut him off so abruptly that the Doctor didn't know what to make of it and was a little hurt.

"No," the Doctor grumbled, fighting a losing battle. "But I know how to reprogram the nanoprobes. Besides, a hologram is more versatile and less likely to get hurt."

"Are you volunteering?"

Her tone had been serious, very serious, and her body language unforgiving. With a jolt, the Doctor was reminded of the first days after Seven had been taken from the Collective. Her demeanor was almost identical to what she was back then.

"Seven," said the Doctor, his tone taking on gentleness yet an air of suspicion. "Are you all right?"

Her eyes flickered to him and back to her work. "Yes."

"So, if I looked over the records in your regeneration unit --"

Once more, she cut him off, passing the last of the nanoprobes to Dr. Kal. "The programming is complete. If you'll excuse me, I still have some things to prepare." She picked up the capsule containing the nanoprobes, turned stiffly and left sickbay without a backward glance.

"I take it that was a little unusual?" asked Kal as he began tidying up from the procedure.

The Doctor nodded.

Kal wandered into the office, looking over some medical charts as he went. "She doesn't strike me as the most… affectionate person, even in the best circumstances."

"No," the Doctor agreed, "she's not, but it's been a long time since she's been that abrupt with anyone. That is, without them doing anything to really annoy her." He smiled at Kal, feeling some embarrassment over his own clinginess over the past while. "I'm afraid I have been guilty of that more than a few times, but still…"

----------------

Seven stared up at her regeneration unit. The shuttle, Justice, was ready for her, all the tools she could possibly need were already onboard, and the torpedo was being completed that very minute. Voyager and the Regulus were getting ready and into place. The only thing left for her to do was rest, waiting for the predetermined time to launch into the Mud Hole.

Somehow, the idea of flying alone into the realm of Species 8472 wasn't as daunting as the anxiety she faced right now. Her nightmares were bad enough, but she had grown to feel even more fear of them in her waking hours than she felt while in them. Unfortunately, this mission was too important for her to take chances. All their futures depended on her being at the top of her game and the harvesting of so many nanoprobes had left her more than exhausted. So, with trepidation so great that she had to take calming breaths, Seven stepped inside her regeneration unit and closed her eyes.

At once, there was a sensation of falling down a huge, dark tunnel. Around her, she could hear the cries and piercing shrieks that made up Species 8472's language. It was so real… it was real. The sights and sounds of Species 8472 surrounding her as though she was already on one of their vessels. She couldn't understand what they were saying, but knew it was nothing encouraging.

She landed on something soft, lost her balance and fell on her behind. There was a bright light surrounding her, like a spotlight. She looked up as far as she could, but wasn't able to see anything beyond the blackness. Then, from her right, she heard a screech. She scrambled to her hands and knees, but froze in the act of getting to her feet. There, before her was the towering figure of a member of Species 8472.

Looking for a way out, Seven turned on the spot, on her feet and ready to run. Even as she did, though, she knew it was futile. There were figures all around her now. Their yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, seeming to pierce her very soul.

She closed her eyes, trying to forcibly end the regeneration cycle, to wake up. Her eyes opened to the same scene instead of the cargo bay. Try as she might, she couldn't wake herself up. As one, the creatures advanced. Seven screamed.

-------------

Chakotay walked down the corridors with purpose. He was going to corner Seven in the cargo bay before her scheduled departure time. He wanted to try once more to make her reconsider, to once again go over the plan in the hopes that one of them would figure out a way to do this without going into the lion's den.

More than anything, he wanted answers and to assure himself that she wasn't going to take any additional risk. This would be dangerous enough without her improvising. Besides, Seven didn't have a good track record when it came to Species 8472. He worried that if the opportunity presented itself, she would take the opportunity to completely destroy Species 8472.

Since there was no way to announce his coming, short of calling her over the comm. system, and he wanted to make sure she couldn't sneak away on him, Chakotay let himself into the cargo bay. What he saw shocked him. Seven was still regenerating, though she should have been awake about ten minutes ago; she was always punctual. But that wasn't all. Seven wasn't peaceful in sleep. An alarm was sounding from the regeneration unit. Seven's head turned slightly from side to side and her eyes moved rapidly beneath closed lids.

Chakotay ran up to her and patted her sweaty face gently, calling her name. "Seven!" She was so pale and looked so frightened, it made Chakotay's heart twist. "Seven, wake up. Seven, can you hear me?" For all his efforts, she remained asleep. He backed down to the console in front of the unit and manually ended the regeneration cycle. The alarm stopped. Chakotay looked up in time to see Seven's eyes snap open. In the few seconds it took for her to register what had happened and his presence, Chakotay saw terror and confusion written on her face. It was gone as soon as her eyes took in the sight of him. He wasn't a fool, though, and knew her fears weren't gone. They were just now hidden from view.

"Captain," said Seven with a slight nod. Her breath was slowly returning to normal, but the single word still came out slightly breathless.

"Are you all right?" he asked. He came around the console towards her, but she avoided him.

"I am fine." She skirted around the console, picked up her bag and headed for the door.

"Seven," he caught hold of her elbow, "you're treading on really thin ice. I've been uncomfortable with this plan from the beginning. The only reason I agreed to it was because you assured me you could make it work and you said you weren't personally affected by the situation. Obviously that was a lie."

"Chakotay, I'm not --"

"Don't lie to me, Seven. I know you too well for you to get away with that." He let go of her elbow and turned to leave. "You're off this mission. Someone else can handle it."

"Captain, no one else knows how to reprogram nanoprobes."

"The Doctor can," he shouted behind him.

"But he cannot produce them. Species 8472 is highly adaptive." Chakotay stopped. "It's likely the weapon will need to be modified."

He turned to face her again, but gave her a stern look that meant business. "You're not leaving this cargo bay until you tell me what's going on."

"Nothing." Her eyes flickered guiltily to her regeneration unit. "I had a disturbing dream. That's all."

"What was it about?"

Chakotay wasn't going to let this go so easily. Even Seven could see that. Still, that didn't mean he had to know everything. If he knew what had really happened, he would certainly send someone else on this mission and she couldn't allow that, not if she wanted to keep them safe. No one else knew Species 8472 like she did. No one else knew how to reprogram nanoprobes or could produce them.

"I was… on a Borg ship." She looked into his eyes as calmly as possible. "They were surrounding me." Seven thought she sounded sincere, but still his gaze challenged her. She was slightly disturbed at how guilty she felt lying to Chakotay. The act shouldn't have come so naturally.

"Is that all?" He didn't sound convinced that it was the whole truth, but thankfully didn't seem to think she was lying.

Again, the words tumbled from her mouth. "There was something before that, but I don't remember it."

He nodded slowly, satisfied enough with the answer to let her go. She was already at the door when his voice stopped her. If at all possible, the kindness and slight hurt in his voice made her feel worse. "Seven?"

"Yes?"

"I love you. You know that… don't you?"

Two impulses warred within Seven. On the one hand, she wanted to go to him, tell him everything and allow him to coax her into staying on the ship and back into a relationship. Her second impulse, the one that won out, was to simply nod and allow him to leave the cargo bay with the knowledge that what she was doing would benefit them all.

-----------------

The doors to the bridge slid open and Chakotay exited. He went to his chair, but didn't sit down. "Report," he said, looking around. From the view screen he could see the Mud Hole in the distance. It had visibly grown since he last looked.

"Seven says she's ready when we are," said Ensign Volopolous. "The Regulus is already in place. Your orders, sir?"

He sighed, thinking the sooner they got on with it, the sooner they would see if this insane plan was as bad an idea as he thought it was. "Head out Lieutenant Horne."

Together, the two lone Starfleet vessels moved away from their stronghold, back towards the abandoned Enterprise vessel.

For a full ten seconds, the shields went down on both vessels while they integrated the modifications several of the engineers had made. Almost halfway through the upgrades, from the Mud Hole, emerged three of Species 8472's vessels. They came up behind the starships.

The rest of the time was seconds filled with tension and fear, wondering if Species 8472 would attack. They did not. The calm continued without interruption and the crews breathed a sigh of relief once the shields were once again operational.

Though the three pod-like vessels followed them all the way, they made it to the Enterprise without incident. Like a toy model in a jar, the craft floated in space serenely. Species 8472's vessels followed Voyager and the Regulus like shadows, watching and waiting for something neither of the Starfleet crews could guess at.

"Maybe they haven't been able to completely adapt to the change in our weapons," said Ensign Volopolous.

"Maybe," said Harry, "but not likely. They're very fast at adapting." His eyes moved from the view screen to the information on his console. "Maybe they know something we don't."

Ensign Volopolous looked worried. "What, like that there's nothing we can do to stop them?"

"That's enough." Chakotay's voice echoed on the bridge. Everyone fell silent.

"Chakotay to Transporter Room One."

In the transporter room, Ensign Kelly answered, his curly hair bouncing slightly as he jumped in surprise. He was just a little tense. "Go ahead."

"When ready, transport the crew."

"Yes, sir." He tapped in the commands to transport the few fully healed members of the Enterprise crew from sickbay and back to their ship.

A few of the crew from Voyager and the Regulus joined them as the Enterprise could not fly with just twenty people. Unfortunately, the Enterprise had to fly without its captain or commander. Both were still too injured to leave the doctors' care. Commander Paris and Lieutenant Ael Dykstra, the ops officer from the Regulus, would be taking their place.

-----------------

Tom took in the familiar sight of the bridge. Seen one, seen them all, he thought. Broken and only able to hobble along, it still gave him a tingle of anticipation to be on the famed Enterprise. The staff was already heading to their posts as he knew the rest of the skeleton crew would be doing.

He checked over the status of the computer systems and reports coming in from the rest of the ship. La Forge was already hard at work in engineering. It didn't look good, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Shields weren't going to be fixed a hundred percent, but they would do. The remaining escape pods and computer systems were fine, if a bit banged up. Weapons were mostly down with only a few of the torpedoes left. As for the engines, only impulse speed would be possible. Still, it was all they needed.

On Tom's say so, the Enterprise started moving once more. Its heading was the Mud Hole.

-----------------

As soon as the Starfleet ships' direction became clear, the three vessels of Species 8472 formed a line between the Regulus, the Enterprise, Voyager and the Mud Hole. Several rifts appeared and a whole fleet of pod-like ships exited, twenty in all. As one, they formed a line with their brethren, but didn't attack. They sat, maintaining an eerie vigil as the Mud Hole grew, now so big that it threatened to encompass Beta 12. The Starfleet vessels stopped in front of the line of alien ships.

"Not that I'm complaining," said Harry, "but why aren't they doing something?"

"Looks like a standoff. They must be waiting to see what we'll do," said Chakotay. "As long as we're nowhere near their device, we're not a threat."

-----------------

The structure seemed smaller the closer she got.

Onboard the Justice, a shuttle just a bit smaller than the Delta Flyer had been, Seven was already inside the Mud Hole and coming up alongside the structure. It had taken awhile for her to get to this point as she had to take precautions so as not to be detected. Among those precautions were a slow speed, minimal energy output, a polarized hull, and cloaking. Even shields were down in an effort to conserve energy. The Justice couldn't have made a ripple on anyone's sensors.

The shuttle sidled up to the alien structure at the centre of the Mud Hole. There were no life signs onboard the structure, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Since the structure was made of the same material as all of Species 8472's vessels, the Justice wouldn't be able to dock. The nanoprobe torpedo would be transported over, set to explode in two minutes, enough time for Seven to set up the shields and get out of the area and head back to Voyager.

Seven took a deep breath.

Because the nanoprobes were the destructive force, the actual explosion from the torpedo would be small, only useful for breaking up the structure and dispersing the nanoprobes throughout the nebula.

Close enough, the Justice's engines shut down.

With shields up, Seven wouldn't even need to clear the nebula, which was good. She didn't intend to. She had not told anyone, made sure not to give a hint at all, but she was not going to leave the Mud Hole, not until she knew for sure this had worked.

The transporter whirred behind her.

She knew more than anyone how adaptive Species 8472 was, and just how dangerous they could be. If there was one thing Seven had gotten from her time with the Borg, it was caution where Species 8472 was concerned.

The shimmer in the air covered the torpedo and it was gone.

Seven was not as naïve as her counterparts from Voyager. They were under the impression that one torpedo with nanoprobes would solve everything. She knew better. That's why she had insisted on stockpiling as many nanoprobes as her body could give in such a short span of time. Chief Engineer Fergus had fitted Voyager with the modified weapons. Chief Engineer Dunn had fitted the Regulus and Geordi LaForge had taken his share with him to the Enterprise.

The Justice pulled away from the structure, not making any sign of its existence.

Chakotay had huffed when she suggested the extra precautions. He had still been thinking of Janeway and all she had done to make a truce with Species 8472. Too easy to read, Seven knew he had also been worried about her. He had known she would do something like this.

The shuttle was twenty meters away from the structure.

Certainly extracting the nanoprobes had taken their toll on her, but Chakotay was no fool. All of Seven's words of caution and precaution had not been contested, not at all. His dilemma had been suspicion over her odd behavior. He had argued that there was no point in stockpiling the nanoprobes since she was coming right back to Voyager. Luckily, Tom had reasoned that they could never prepare for everything and therefore should heed her advice.

The shuttle was thirty meters from the structure.

If everything went as it should, the structure would explode, sending nanoprobes throughout the nebula. It was a demonstration of power, a warning. That too was foolish in Seven's opinion. Species 8472's actions were not notices of potential hostility. This was war.

The shuttle stopped fifty meters from the structure and raised shields.

Seven watched with more than a little apprehension as the seconds and minutes ticked by. Finally, the last seconds came closer. Seven couldn't help her thoughts from counting down.

Ten… nine…

The nebula continued to grow around her.

Eight… seven… six…

The material of the nebula was so dense and had spread so far that its resemblance to fluidic space was unquestionable.

Five… four… three… two… one… negative one… negative two…

Instead of the expected relief, Seven's heart began hammering inside her chest harder than ever. What happened?

They knew. They had to know, but how? Her dreams came back to her in a flash. Previous experience would have told them that she was the greatest threat to them. Species 8472 was telepathic. Perhaps her dreams were more than dreams. She hadn't told them anything, never alluded to the plan to bring them down. However, they had never asked any questions and they wouldn't have had to.

"It's my fault."

She felt so stupid for believing there was a way to subtly stop Species 8472. She felt even worse for having been the means for her own failure and the failure of her crewmates.

Fear pumped through her body at the very thought of returning to fix the problem. That was when she knew Species 8472 had won. Through her dreams they had not only found out everything they needed, but ensured she would be too afraid to come after them.

She couldn't think. Everything was falling apart before her eyes and there was nothing she could do. The threat of destruction pressed in on her until it was all she could think of. Never before had she felt the urge to cry as she did at that moment. Even the Borg had not caused this much disruption in her emotions. If they could not stop Species 8472, this system would be only the first to fall. Sooner or later, Starfleet would be destroyed. It was only a matter of time before Species 8472 confronted them in battle. It would mean the death of her friends… her only family.

Courage came to her then. She could not fail them. In a decision that had been steadily forming in her mind since her return to Earth, Seven pushed her useless, human emotions away and focused only on the task at hand. Seven of Nine was too human to be Borg and too Borg to be human. Somewhere, deep down inside of Annika, there was a part of her that cried at this, but that part was too drowned out by everything else to be heard.

Her mind cleared and her heartbeat slowing down, Seven could now think. She continued at her extremely slow pace, hoping she could be undetected for this second trip. The dim lights in the shuttle would have barely allowed a normal human to see the control pads, but her enhanced eyes didn't need much light. She sent a short, encoded message to Voyager and began to plan what she was going to do.

Had they hidden one of their own on the structure to shut down the weapon? Had they figured out how to disable it, make the torpedo and its nanoprobes useless?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The standoff between the three Starfleet vessels and Species 8472 continued.

"Nothing." Ellie Horne sounded as surprised as she looked. She wasn't the only one. Behind Species 8472's vessels, the Mud Hole continued on in its compound growth, so large it didn't look so much like a nebula anymore. It was as though someone had opened a window into fluidic space for them to see their future.

Chakotay felt himself, if possible, grow even more uneasy as the seconds ticked by. "Any word from Seven?"

"Nothing, sir," said Volopolous. "Do you think they got to her?"

There was something in the blunt way that she said it. It made the whole crew silent and tense. Chakotay wondered how the question was meant. Was Seven dead, or had she been compromised?

"Send a message to Picard and Silas. We'll need to go to Plan B," said Chakotay. He wanted to sigh, to run his hands over his face and swear. The concerned faces looking up at him for guidance prevented this. He had to stay in control. "Everyone to battle stations. Get ready to move in on my mark."

"Sir," Volopolous called in warning from behind him. "I'm getting an encoded message. I think it's from the Justice."

Hope jumped unbidden back into the room. Chakotay couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat. "What does it say?"

Volopolous hesitated, looking panicked. "I don't know. I -- I can't decode it."

"What?"

She shook her head, distressed. "I -- I'm sorry. It's some algorithm I've never seen before."

Chakotay thought back to Voyager's time in the Delta Quadrant. "Harry, see what you can do with it. I'm willing to bet a life's worth of holodeck time that she used something only you would recognize."

Harry nodded and bent to his work. Sure enough, he smiled as soon as the message appeared on his screen. "You're right. It's based on an old Borg algorithm."

Volopolous frowned, not happy at being outdone. Still, she was curious. "Borg?"

Harry didn't notice her disappointment. He was too excited in the thrill of the moment. "We used it a couple of times. It's a basic Borg algorithm they use in their regeneration units. She showed it to me when we were setting up units for the kids." A few seconds passed. "I have it." The smile faded back into worry. "It says the weapon failed. She doesn't know why, but she's going in to 'fix it'."

Shit, thought Chakotay. And they wouldn't be able to contact her without giving away her location. We'll have to go along with it whether we like it or not. He began typing in a message to send to Tom and Silas. This would take some explanation.

-----------------

Voyager and the Regulus moved into the line of ships first, clearing the way for the Enterprise, which hobbled along behind. A few shots with phasers didn't do much damage, but scattered some of the fleet and crippled a few vessels.

A few shots with nanoprobe-enhanced weapons encouraged the pods to move out of the way faster and discouraged them from getting too close. However, it did not completely prevent them from attacking.

Half of the fleet dispersed and regrouped behind the starships. Still, they continued to force their way through, drawing closer and closer to the Mud Hole and Seven. He didn't know how many ships Species 8472 had at their disposal, but he hoped this battle was drawing their attention away from the structure they were protecting, away from her.

"Good luck, Seven," Chakotay murmured as he watched the battle. I love you, he added in thought, wishing he could have said it to her out loud.

--------------------

It was now or never. Seven started the transporter. Her world faded from the Justice to the inside of the structure inside the Mud Hole. Like the pods Species 8472 used as ships, this… machine was made of biological material. Various shades of brown and slightly gooey, it resembled a jungle covered in clay and mud more than anything.

The structure was so small that it didn't take long for Seven to locate the torpedo. It appeared fine. Tendrils from the ship had grown over it, but hadn't been able to penetrate the casing. Looking closer, Seven noticed scratches on the casing. Opening it, she saw the frozen timer, stuck at four minutes. What, then, had stopped it? She set down her weapon, a rather large phaser rifle, and tools beside her and prepared to work.

A slight noise, nothing identifiable, caught Seven's attention and made her all too aware that she might not be the only living thing onboard. Her scanner wasn't picking up any signs of life, but there were a number of ways Species 8472 could circumvent the simple scans. She was almost completely convinced there was one of the aliens onboard, a precaution in case she returned just like this.

The noise came again, this time from behind her. It sounded like something brushing against the material of the structure. She turned in time to see one of Species 8472 jump from the ceiling and strike. It hit her in the chest, causing her to fly back and hit the far wall. Her chest on fire, ribs aching and her whole back protesting, Seven tried to catch her breath. There, still beside the torpedo was her weapon. She crawled towards it as the alien dived for her again.

Rolling out of the way just in time, Seven was even further from her rifle and the weapon than before. The alien meant business. It didn't give her time to think of something else to do before it attacked again. She caught its arm before it could strike at her, but it was too strong for her to hold on.

The wall was harder than it looked and hurt as much as the first time when she was thrown into it. This happened again and again until it hurt too much. Seven just couldn't bring herself to fight anymore. Every move, every attempt to escape or fight back was met with pain.

The creature came at her and picked her up, holding her aloft by her neck. It stared into her eyes as it slowly choked the life from her lungs. Its malevolent yellow eyes contained pure hatred as they bore into her. Seven felt something inside her mind and knew the alien was trying to communicate.

"I know your fears," it said. Laughter that wasn't her own echoed in Seven's mind. "It's me."

The grip tightened around Seven's throat and she choked, feeling the pressure on her trachea. Images were flashing before her eyes, long lost memories and scenes from her life with the Borg. The sadness of the memories hit her harder than the physical pain. She saw again as though there again the death of her guinea pig Clover, leaving the Alpha Quadrant with her parents, their assimilation at the hands of the very creatures they were studying, being afraid and alone in the dark, being ripped from the familiarity of the Collective…

The alien probed the mind of its victim before it died, enjoying all the suffering of her life.

The edges of her vision began to blur and cut out.

The alien came to more recent memories and saw a man's face. He was crude, primitive in appearance and had an ink pattern on the side of his face. He was smiling at Seven and she was smiling back, leaning in to kiss him sweetly.

The creature realized its mistake too late. Seven's mind ripped away and she brought her hands up, thrusting her fingers into its eyes.

The creature let out a scream of pain and she dug in further, ignoring everything else until the hand around her throat loosened. With a thud, she dropped to the floor and coughing and crawling, she grabbed her rifle. Two shots killed the thrashing alien.

Ignoring the burning in her throat and the pain of several broken bones, Seven tried to get up. Her legs refused to work and she looked down in dismay. Both appeared to be broken in more than one place. The left ankle was certainly crushed. Her shoulder was sore, but both arms worked with a bit of concentration.

She pulled herself closer to the torpedo and opened the casing with a security code. Though the casing and uppermost wiring was practically undamaged, the rest was a mess. The alien had completely taken apart the detonator. She poked around further, hoping that was the most damage. Her shoulders slumped as the last of hope drained from her. They had made the torpedo useless. There was no way it could explode now.

Defeated, she sunk down, leaning against the gutted weapon, trying to think of another way to disperse the nanoprobes. Only the force of an explosion would work and the Justice didn't have another device with the same explosive capability as the torpedo Species 8472 had taken apart. It had been the last and only weapon of its size they had, scavenged from the Enterprise.

She thought back to one of Silas' early suggestions of sprinkling nanoprobes out a hatch and almost laughed, half wishing she could, but it simply didn't work that way. It would be easy to do, she thought ruefully. I have a shuttle…

I have a shuttle.

Her eyes widened and she felt new life flood into her with the excited bounding of her heart: but how would she get out of the Mud Hole? She couldn't. It would take a system overload to create a big enough explosion to spread out enough nanoprobes into the ever-growing nebula and the structure… Seven looked around herself. The whole thing was shielded on the outside to protect from weapons fire and other phenomena. That's why she suggested they detonate the weapon from inside.

A head-on collision from a large vessel, much larger than the Justice and set to self destruct, could produce enough force to bring down the shields and destroy it, she thought. The only problem would be that the rift into fluidic space, from which this structure was drawing basic building blocks and energy, could stay open. Whichever vessel destroyed the structure would have to be emitting a charge to close the rift.

She transported back to the Justice to start the system overload and send a message to Voyager.

---------------

Voyager bucked and rolled with the force of the attacks. Species 8472 was pairing up their vessels, concentrating the force of their phasers. It was doing a good job against the Starfleet vessels. They had managed to make it almost to the outer edge of the Mud Hole and make a stand. However, early into the battle the Starfleet captains realized they were outgunned, even with the Borg weaponry. The Enterprise was down to just phasers and shields were down to ten percent. The other starships had taken up defensive positions around the Enterprise, but there wasn't much they could really do. One more hit and it would be out of the battle, unable even to escape. The others weren't faring much better.

The Regulus was hit three times in succession. The outside already looked like a pot-marked tin can.

"Shields are down to twenty percent, sir," shouted Ensign Markus, the replacement for Lieutenant Dykstra.

Silas almost slid out of his chair as his ship took another hit. What now, he thought, gritting his teeth.

Markus held onto the console to keep upright as he updated his captain on the damages. "The deflector dish is down and we have hull breaches on decks two and three."

"We can't take much more of this," said Lieutenant Ackeela from the helm.

One of the brown pods hurtled towards them. It exploded, hit with one of the Regulus' nanoprobe-enhanced torpedoes.

"What's taking her so long?" Ackeela's fingers jerked over the controls and the ship barely dodged another volley of orange fire from the pods.

Silas felt his stomach rolling slightly. "Just keep in between the enemy and the Enterprise, Lieutenant." He dug his fingers deeper into the arms of his chair. He hoped whatever that ex-Borg was up to, she would be done soon, hopefully before his ship was torn apart.

----------------

There was terror in Ellie Horne's voice as she shouted above the din of sparking circuits and phaser hits. "Sir, we have to get out of here. I can't be a road block and dodge fire at the same time." Five of the brown pods dove and swerved around them, emphasizing her point.

"Hold your position, Lieutenant," said Chakotay. "We have to give Seven time."

"We're just getting used as target practice. We'll be destroyed."

Chakotay ignored her, directing his question to Harry Kim and Ensign Volopolous. "Status?"

"Shields are down to forty percent," said Volopolous, "which is better than the Regulus or the Enterprise. Long-range sensors are down too."

"We're down to ten torpedoes and only five of those have been modified," said Harry. "And Species 8472 is only down to sixteen vessels."

"Sir," called Horne, "We can't stay here forever. What if Seven of Nine isn't able to fix the weapon? What if they ambushed her?"

Harry must have seen how tightly-wound up his captain was because he took it upon himself to answer her. "You don't know Seven." He clung to his console as the ship rocked from a hit. "She's just as likely to have ambushed them." Harry met Chakotay's worried eyes, reassuring the crew and his captain just as much as himself. "She'll be fine. All we need is a little more time."

------------------

"Just a little more time," Seven said to herself as she watched the battle from the pilot seat of the Justice. Her legs hung limp over the edge of her chair, which she had pulled herself into by sheer force of will. Blood slowly dripped from her arm and ankle onto the carpet. The tools she had used to extract more nanoprobes from her blood lay scattered on the floor. There would be more than enough to get rid of the nebula and eat away at the outer casing of the structure.

Long-range scans indicated the Enterprise was the only ship left with a working deflector dish. She punched in a series of commands into the computer.

Her messages sent and the computer humming, she transported back to the alien structure. Now all she had to do was wait. She was surprised how calm she felt about her fate, how willing she was to give her life to save her only family. Janeway would be proud.

Seven leaned her head back and tried to think of something pleasant. She remembered first meeting Harry Kim and Tom Paris, how friendly they had been. One by one, the faces of her friends passed before her eyes. When Chakotay's dark visage came into focus, she finally let the tears fall. She wished she had told him how she really felt, but there was at least a little time left.

-----------------

"Captain, I'm getting another encrypted message," said Volopolous, already running the message through the decoder Harry had provided. "It's from Seven. She says they took apart the torpedo. She can still disperse the nanoprobes, but…"

"What is it?" asked Chakotay.

"It says we're going to have to crash the Enterprise to destroy the structure."

Harry gaped. "She can't be serious."

Chakotay laughed. "This is Seven we're talking about. Did you expect anything less?"

----------------

The information didn't hit Tom as hard as he would have expected. He supposed it had something to do with the fact that the ship was already crippled, just a hindrance now to the others.

"All right, everyone off the ship." He keyed the intercom. "Abandon ship. Use the escape pods and you'll be towed to either the Regulus or Voyager. Good luck."

Without hesitation, Tom Paris ordered his bridge crew to their pods and put in the coordinates and codes himself. It was his responsibility as commanding officer. Only he would be responsible for destroying it.

The computer calculated how long it would take to reach the structure. "Ten minutes to impact," said the monotone voice.

He told the computer to activate the self-destruct sequence as soon as the structure was hit. Paris called Voyager. "Ten minutes. Do you think you can keep them off me until then?"

Chakotay nodded. "Will do. Good luck, Tom."

----------------

Seven felt the waves in space from inside the structure as the Justice exploded. Since the cloaking device was still on, it looked like thin air had erupted in an explosive flare. The alien environment rocked, forcing her to lie on her side so she wouldn't be thrown about.

Her courage was waning again, but she could not regret her decision or take it back. Still, her hands shook just a bit as she sent her last message to Voyager. It was encrypted with a more difficult code to interpret and addressed to no one in particular, but only one person was on her mind as she sent it. The note was only a few sentences long, but it would be enough. He would understand.

She leaned her head against the empty casing of the torpedo, certain she could hear the nanoprobes eating away at the structure and surrounding nebula.

-------------

Eight minutes.

Voyager and the Regulus were taking quite a beating. They dove in and out, all the time staying between Species 8472's vessels and the Enterprise. Three pods joined together and fired at the same time on Voyager. It punched a hole through the shields and blew off almost a whole section on the starboard side.

"One more hit and we won't have any shields," Ellie Horne grumbled.

"Chakotay to Fergus."

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it," came the harried voice of the chief engineer. In his domain, Fergus wove his lanky body around the consoles with no grace, but with a bulldog style that dared anyone to challenge him or slack off. Everything from his purposeful stride and tense muscles to his scowl suggested he knew what he was doing and come hell or high water, he would get it done. "Shields will take a minute, but the hull breaches are being cordoned off." The engineers scattered, all but running around and out of the room with repair kits.

-------------

Four minutes. The brown fluidic space of the Mud Hole surrounded the ships, glowing with every new flash of phaser fire.

Two pods lined up together to fire again on Voyager. The Regulus passed overhead and both pods exploded, caught with a nanoprobe weapon.

"Nice shot, Commander," said Silas. Commander Jule simply smiled and fired at another pod.

Ackeela forced the ship down in a rapid dive to avoid retaliating fire. "Close," she whispered. Behind them, two more pods united and powered up. "Sir," Ackeela shouted in warning. From their position they wouldn't be able to cover the Enterprise and avoid being hit.

Commander Jule fired at the pods first, but they had no more torpedoes left and the phasers didn't do any significant damage.

Silas saw the threat, but there was nothing they could do. They had to protect the Enterprise. "All hands, brace for impact." Everyone on the bridge hunched over, holding onto consoles and railings.

The attack never came. Voyager, came firing on the pods over the top of the Enterprise. The phaser fire from two starships accomplished what one couldn't. The pods weren't destroyed, but they lost their own weapons and broke off from the attack.

---------------

"Three minutes to impact."

Together, the Regulus and Voyager broke off from their protective stance around the Enterprise and moved out of the Mud Hole. The Regulus went to warp, disappearing into the stars.

Tom watched as the structure drew closer. It looked like it was already being demolished by something. He guessed it was the nanoprobes. Already the space around them was getting clearer, looking less like fluidic space and more like the emptiness that was there before.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Two minutes.

The walls of the structure were moving. For a moment, Seven thought it was alive. She looked closer and realized that it was the nanoprobes eating away at the structure, like termites. She smiled, enjoying the spectacle of melting walls.

--------------

Three seconds…

A bright light gathered and was focused by the deflector dish, set up as per Seven's instructions in her last message. In a last ditch attempt, some of Species 8472's pods collided with the Enterprise, but they were too late.

Tom shut his eyes.

Two seconds…

The act was useless, but he still braced himself in his chair. A tingling sensation took hold of his body.

One…

Voyager went to warp as the Enterprise collided with the structure. At first the structure simply melded with the starship, but then the self destruct went off and the whole scene disappeared in a flash. With the Mud Hole disappearing before their eyes and the threat of destruction looming, Species 8472 escaped back through smaller, temporary rifts into fluidic space.

"Welcome back to Voyager, Commander." Ensign Kelly stood behind the controls in the transporter room. He had a cut above his right eye and a bruise forming on his cheek. Despite the obvious signs of a hard day, the man was smiling.

Tom smiled, the first real smile in at least two weeks. "Thank you, Ensign." He headed for the doors.

He reached the bridge in no time where he found the crew cheering. Tom joined Captain Chakotay at the front of the bridge. They stood together looking out at the empty space where the Mud Hole used to be. "I take it things went well."

Chakotay smiled, overflowing with pride in his crew. Around him, they congratulated each other over their incredible success and luck. "It was perfect." His smile faltered. "But we haven't heard anything from Seven, not since before the structure was destroyed."

Tom slapped Chakotay on the back. "I'm sure she's fine." Tom steered him to the captain's chair. "Don't worry. We'll find her."

Chakotay nodded, but concern for Seven remained in the forefront of his mind.

Reports were coming in on both the Regulus and Voyager, describing the extent of damages and number of people dead and injured. None dead, everyone sporting at least some injury was cause for celebration. Doctors burdened with patients was better than even one body in the morgue. And they had succeeded.

Scans showed that the rift had closed, and that the nanoprobes were eating away at the Mud Hole. The structure had completely disappeared. The only signs of the effort it took to destroy it were a few small pieces of the Enterprise.

Despite having asked the question twice before Tom arrived, Chakotay asked about Seven again. "Any word from the Justice?"

One of the ensigns on Chakotay's far left, a dark-haired Trill, checked the computer and answered. "None, sir."

Chakotay tried to calm his growing worry. She could be keeping an eye on the nanoprobes to make sure they would follow their programming and automatically self destruct after assimilating the Mud Hole. "Hail the Justice."

The ensign nodded and sent the hail. He frowned over the result.

"What is it? Does she have bad news?"

"No, sir," he interrupted, checking the computer even further. "We're not getting any signal from the Justice at all."

Tom caught Chakotay's eye. "She should have turned off the cloaking device by now."

Chakotay nodded, trying to think why Seven would keep the cloak up and not answer a hail.

The ensign took a deep breath, well aware that he was going to be giving news no one wanted to hear. "Sir, even with the cloak up, we know what to look for. I don't think the Justice is out there."

----------------

Four hours later and there was still no sign of the Justice. Worse was evidence that the ship had exploded. Chakotay refused to believe what he was told and ordered his crew to continue looking.

With a tired sigh, Chakotay entered his ready room. He could barely work up the energy to do more than shuffle over to his desk and sit. He sat for a minute with his head in his hands, staring at the blank computer screen before him. There had to be something else he could do, some other means of finding Seven that he hadn't explored. Had she transported to one of the planets? Was the Justice damaged and Seven unable to communicate? Was she really dead? No, he refused to believe the last thought.

Running his hand roughly over his face, Chakotay signed onto the computer terminal. He had a message. It was encrypted with a Borg algorithm. Surprised, he looked at the time stamp on it and found it had been received just before the Enterprise collided with the structure. He opened the message and ran it through every decoder available. The computer finally provided a sequence. It was an older Borg algorithm, more complex than the one Harry had used for the other messages.

With trepidation, Chakotay began to read. Only a few sentences in and Chakotay called Tom to let him know they could stop looking for the Justice; they wouldn't find it.

It took all night for Chakotay to finish with the letter. It wasn't very long, only a few sentences, but he just kept running over the words again and again. He couldn't stop. With every word, Seven's voice echoed in Chakotay's mind, clearer and clearer with every fresh reading.

Tom entered the ready room at 0600 hours, carrying an update on repairs. "We've successfully retrieved all the Enterprise's escape pods. Were you up all night?"

Chakotay glanced up and gave a slight nod.

Tom took in the sight of his captain sitting with a pale, tired face and grew worried. He caught a glimpse of what Chakotay was reading. "What is that?"

He turned the screen so Tom could see. Chakotay read along from memory. "The weapon was too damaged to fix, but I won't let you down. I'm sorry." Chakotay couldn't bring himself to repeat the last three words of Seven's letter, but the letters burned into his mind as though he was reading it again.

Tom mouthed the words of the letter, but stopped at the last line. He had the grace not to mention Chakotay's omission.

In its entirety, the message read: "The weapon was too damaged to fix, but I won't let you down. I'm sorry. I love you."

--------------

The return of the two ships to Earth was a quiet affair since only a few had known about the mission to begin with. Both the Regulus and Voyager were taken in for repairs while the crews were debriefed and given time off.

It was during the debriefing that Chakotay once again saw Admiral Janeway and related to her how her friend and pupil had died. He recited the final message perfectly. Her eyes watched him closely the entire time. Afterwards, they walked the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters together.

"I was worried when we couldn't get any communiqués in or out," said Janeway. "I guess I was right to worry."

"I guess so." They walked down the path with bright flowers, bees, and tall trees surrounding them. He hid it well, but the beautiful greenery failed to give Chakotay a feeling of peace.

Kathryn watched him closely. He was miserable, just as she knew he would be without the person he loved. "When Admiral Janeway came to us from the future, she tried to get me to reconsider trying to destroy the Borg hub by telling me some things about the future."

This disturbed him slightly. "What did she tell you?"

"She warned me that you and Seven had become an item."

"She told you that we were dating in order to stop you from destroying the hub?"

Kathryn chuckled, but it was bitter. "Not exactly. She said the two of you were involved and when Seven… was injured, it caused you quite a lot of pain." Janeway deliberately avoided telling him that they had been married and Seven had died in that reality as well. It didn't seem fair to give him more heartache. "I believe she told Seven that as well."

"You think Seven wanted to put distance between us to spare my feelings?"

Janeway nodded. "I do. I think that even after the timeline was changed, she saw potential for you to be hurt and it frightened her." Kathryn paused, hoping her next words would give him some small measure of comfort. "I think in the end, that's why she did what she did. Giving her own life was preferable to seeing you suffer."

Chakotay nodded, for a long while too overcome to say anything. Luckily, he was with one of his dearest friends, who waited patiently and with understanding. Tears rimmed her own eyes as he battled for composure. "I admit, I didn't take it too well when she decided to call it quits." He looked down, ashamed of some of his initial anger. Just as it was not his nature to obsess over or abuse a woman, it was not in his nature to easily forgive himself for even the slightest transgression.

"I think I can understand you being upset over losing such an attachment. You never were one for frivolous relationships." She placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him and he turned to face her. "I know you, Chakotay. You didn't do anything to upset or hurt her. Seven needed to find her own way and the fact that you let her go and do that very thing just shows how much you loved her…" she examined his eyes, "or do love her."

They held hands, taking some small measure of comfort from the closeness. However, a pain in Chakotay's chest had started to grow since he first read Seven's last words and so far it had just gotten worse. He had lost friends and family and girlfriends before but never had he felt like a part of him was missing, a part that could never fully heal.

-------------

If this was death, it sure wasn't how she imagined it, not that she really had anything to guide her in her expectations. She had feared it, but not been able to settle her mind as to what it would be like. Everything was black and cold, very cold. As some time went by, bright light crept in around the edges and feeling came back. Mostly there was pain.

She realized that things were only black because her eyes were screwed shut. For some reason, it took a good amount of effort to open them, but she did it.

With a gasp, Seven's eyes adjusted to the lower light and saw the now familiar walls of the ship's structure. The brown walls surrounding her were so close that she didn't know how there was enough air for her to breath, let alone where enough light was coming in for her to see. Her tool kit was beside her, pressing so tightly into her side that it hurt to breathe. It cost her some soreness, but she looked all around her. Everything seemed to be solid.

Lacking anything else to do, Seven began to assess herself. It seemed nothing had changed except an escalation in physical pain all over. During the collision she must have sustained more injuries.

The walls were melting. Seven jumped a bit in surprise when she noticed this. With a trembling hand, she reached out and brushed a bit of wall with her fingertips. It was as cold as ice. Lazy tendrils crept from the walls and around the tip of her index finger. She watched as it grabbed hold. It attempted to grow around her finger and down her wrist, but couldn't make it. The tendril shuddered and then just shrivelled into nothing before her eyes.

"The nanoprobes." She smiled. Apparently they would continue eating away until their whole job was done. She looked around herself again and wondered just how long it would take for her prison to completely disappear. She also wondered why it was not already demolished. The Enterprise had collided with the structure. She had felt it. So then how was she alive?

Ever so slowly, the walls melted until there was a large hole to the right of where Seven was lying. It was so bright in comparison to her current drab surroundings that she couldn't tell what lay beyond it. Curious and with nothing to lose, Seven crawled towards it. She had to pull away part of the wall, which crumbled in her hands, to squeeze through.

It was a ship, or at least part of one. The light was coming from a flashlight lying on the floor. The rest of the area was pitch black. Seven picked up the light and shone it around her. Her only conclusion was that a great amount of luck - whether good or bad had yet to be decided - had been on her side.

Some small part of the Enterprise had survived as had some of the structure. The two had melded together due to the heat and force of impact, forming a pod of sorts. Her tools were still in her belt so she took one out and began to scan her surroundings. Seven decided she had very bad luck. There was only a little air left in the small enclosure, but she wouldn't have to worry about freezing or suffocating. The nanoprobes were doing their job well, eating away at the viscous wall and beyond that was fluidic space, actual fluidic space. She dropped her scanner and lay back on the ground, too tired and sore to do anything else. What was the point anyway?

I should disable the nanoprobes before they get into fluidic space. The thought, one that once would never have entered her mind, now stuck there with a stubbornness unlike any she had known. She lay there on the floor, wondering why the thought of infecting all of fluidic sat so uneasily with her. Species 8472 was her mortal enemy. She supposed the ideals of Starfleet, particularly Voyager's crew, had rubbed off on her.

With only so much time left, Seven forced herself into a sitting position and dragged her toolkit out from the rubble. She gripped the familiar edges of her tools, taking comfort from doing something so familiar… and doing something that felt inexplicably right.

By the time the programming was done, all energy had left her. Seven lay back on the carpet and stared into the blackness, waiting for death. Her expectation was disrupted by the familiar feeling of being transported. Voyager?

She rematerialized on a curved, but soft surface inside what looked to be one of Species 8472's vessels. Two of the creatures looked down on her, their eyes glowing yellow. Despite her nightmares and the natural fear she had of the species, she didn't get the impression these individuals meant her harm. Their gazes bore into hers and instead of feeling anxious or afraid, a sense of calm settled over her. It filled her body and mind, lulling her into a deep sleep.

----------------

Seven woke up in what first appeared to be a forest. Her hair was loose and brushed, the grime had been washed away from her body and she was wearing clean, typical civilian Earth clothes.

She stood, curious but not surprised that her legs and the rest of her body was healed, and could see that she was really behind a few trees on the corner of her aunt's property. There were lights on in the little, white house. It looked inviting, but there was an ethereal quality about everything. Her aunt was in the kitchen when she entered.

"Oh, hello." Irene placed a pie on the table and gestured for Seven to sit. "I was wondering when you'd be getting up."

"You're not my aunt," said Seven.

The visage that looked so much like Seven's last relative looked at her with pity. "No, I'm not." She gestured to the chair once more. "Please, sit."

Seven looked around the kitchen. It was very realistic and yet it didn't feel right. "Then what is this, a hallucination?"

"Not really. We're giving you this vision so we can communicate while you rest. Our minds are connected, if only on a superficial level. You can probably feel us if you try."

Seven closed here eyes and found that she could indeed feel something like tendrils in her mind. Focusing on any one strand led her to another creature's thoughts and feelings, but it took a lot of effort and she quickly broke off. Returning to her own mind with relief, she realized she was sweating, even though it was not real sweat. She sat down.

Irene patted Seven's hand kindly. "Your body took quite a beating so we placed you in a stasis unit. You'll be right as rain in a few hours. We chose this location from your memory because it gives you comfort."

"Why are you helping me?"

"It's kind of complicated."

"According to you, I have a few hours."

"Fair enough." Irene cut up a piece of pie and offered it to Seven, who shook her head. "Not long after Captain Janeway negotiated a truce with us, a malcontent group began to grow. They didn't trust Janeway, or any humans for that matter."

"Kathryn Janeway is a good person. She would not lead you astray."

"I know, but they were determined and that you were part of her crew ensured their suspicion."

"You speak of them in the past tense. Have they all been destroyed?"

"Not all of them, but their movement has been thanks to your people. They were never a large group, just disruptive. The fleet they attacked Voyager and the Regulus with was all they had."

"That explains their cautious behaviour, but if they were so small, why didn't you and your people control them?"

"We tried, but we don't attack each other. Such a thing is unheard of. When negotiation and reason failed, we ran out of options." Irene folded her hands in front of her, reminding Seven of Janeway trying to explain some aspect of humanity that Seven stubbornly refused to understand.

Seven thought of the Borg Collective. Like Species 8472, they could hear each others' thoughts, share in experiences and work as one towards the same goal. The difference was that Species 8472 was a collective of individuals with their own thoughts, identities and desires. An attack on each other would be devastating for their race.

"I understand."

Irene's eye flashed yellow as she stared at Seven. "Yes, I suppose you do. You already know they were controlling your dreams, giving you nightmares to intimidate you."

"The Enterprise was destroyed as was the structure?"

Irene nodded.

"Then, how did I get here?"

"We watched from behind one of -- what did you humans call it -- Beta 12's moons." She smiled. "It was quite something, actually. The Enterprise crashed into the structure, partly melded with it, and exploded. However, it took too long to close the rift. You have some amazing luck, child. A corner -- the corner with you -- was pushed through the rift before it closed and here you are."

"Here I am." Seven nodded, looking around the simulated environment. It was nice and peaceful, but there was a desire for something she had never really felt before. She wanted to go home. "Am I going to have to stay here?"

Irene poured herself a cup of tea and made a cup with cream and sugar for Seven before answering. "We can help you get back, but it will have to be in an escape pod. We're a little short at the moment so I'm afraid we can't give you a ship and we wish to avoid direct confrontations with your species."

"I understand, but aren't you nervous about leaving Starfleet with an example of your technology to study?"

"The pod will degrade naturally after it lands," said Irene. "The only problem is that you will not be able to work the controls. We'll have to pre-set the coordinates." Irene nudged the tea closer until Seven took a sip. "So, where would you like to land?"

------------

Unnoticed due to its exceptionally brief existence, a rift opened from fluidic space just above the outermost reaches of Earth's atmosphere. In a second it had both formed and disappeared, ejecting a small, brown pod into space. The pod automatically headed to Earth's surface, burning as it fell. By the time people noticed its presence, it had already landed on the grounds of Starfleet Headquarters.

Seven got out of the pod. It was already degrading into nothing. Trees and ferns blocked her view of the whole area, but she knew where she was anyway. The representative for Species 8472, Irene, had insisted the pod land where it could hide until it fully decomposed. She watched until every bit had vanished before trying to find a path that would lead her out of the forest.

Thankfully, the park was not too large. She soon struck upon an old gravel path that led to a paved and well-tended trail bordered in bright flowers and tall trees. Half an hour into her walk, she spotted one of the buildings of the Starfleet complex. There were several paths crisscrossing over the grounds. Several people were out for a stroll, but none took notice of the blond-haired woman in civilian clothing on the outer edges of the park. She headed towards the buildings.

Then, like an epiphany, she spotted two of the people she most wanted to see. Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay were walking together on a path ahead of her. They were too far away to hear her and they were too focused on their conversation with each other to notice her waving in the distance.

Her excitement was cut short, however, as they stopped and turned to each other. They were holding hands in such an intimate way that even Seven knew to be a gesture of more than friendship. She dropped the hand that had been waving at them so excitedly a moment ago.

Her throat felt clogged. As in Astrometrics when Chakotay visited her, she wanted to call out to him, to let him know she wanted his presence, wanted him. As before, though, she kept her tongue. If this made him happy, then she would let him go, even if it hurt. But it wouldn't have to hurt.

Love, she decided, was a useless emotion for her to engage in. It led only to pain, another useless feeling. It did not occur to her that it was her love for her friends which gave her the strength to destroy the structure and face death.

She released a breath and turned from them, looking for a direct way to Starfleet Headquarters. There wasn't one so she stepped over the flowerbeds and made her own path.


	14. Chapter 14

This chapter is in lieu of a much longer story that was supposed to follow up with a reunion and string tying for several things brought up in the series. Unfortunately, the full story is going very slow and may not make it. Please accept my apologies and this chapter instead… or for now.

Three years later…

The lone shuttle was a sleek if small thing, only big enough for two to travel comfortably. It was big enough though.

Telvan IV and its two moons glowed like a large blue and green marble against the blackness of the eternal universe. Around it the rest of the system's planets and single sun were devoid of natural life. A few had mining colonies, but they weren't within view of Telvan IV. The planet was a pretty picture and it was largely uninhabited due to a treaty making it a safe haven from development and all but the most responsible travellers.

The shuttle, known to its occupants as Mobeus II, had secured permission to explore the precious gem for a month. It was a special gift of thanks for saving the lives of several top diplomats and members of an alien royal family.

Starfleet officer Captain Chakotay, the pilot of Mobeus II, smiled as he watched Telvan IV grow larger and larger. It had been his idea to utilize the goodwill of the assisted alien race to secure this haven for as long as Starfleet would allow him to vacation. Voyager was undergoing upgrades and repairs anyway and the entire crew was due for a good, long rest so Starfleet had agreed to his request for a month away. He could already tell it was the best idea he'd ever had… well, one of his best ideas.

His gaze strayed to the simple wedding band around his left ring finger. It was a tradition he'd never been enthusiastic about, but he thought he'd miss it if the ring wasn't there. The band of mixed gold and silver metal was a symbol for something of great importance he didn't take lightly or at all for granted. Indeed, he'd had to wait too long for his wedding day for it to be unappreciated.

How long had he waited for his wife to settle her mind and her conscience before he could even think of asking her to marry him? Much longer than three years. In fact, it had all started on Voyager years ago. He should have seen it the moment he learned of her history. He should have understood that their shared experiences were such that though he'd started out hating her for what she seemed to be sooner or later he'd love her for what she could become and the partnership they would create. From having to work with many differing types of personalities and many people he just plain didn't like, Chakotay had quickly grown to tolerate and even appreciate the contributions she made to the ship. When they grew closer it had been surprisingly easy to spend time working and even relaxing at her side. Without her Voyager would not have made it home, but then that could be said of many people on the ship. They had been a team, every last one of them. Chakotay had just happened to fall in love with one of the strongest and most commanding of them.

He shook his head when he thought of his past relationships, wondering how he could have ever wanted anyone but his wife. He chalked it up to not knowing what he wanted, but even that didn't fit. Picturing their faces and their personalities, Chakotay knew he definitely had a type and it was anything but average. Perhaps that had been why he'd first been attracted to Kathryn Janeway. She was a strong, independent, driven woman with common sense, above average intelligence and great humanity. Such a combination wasn't found often. He'd been uncommonly lucky to find it in several women, but only one who held that extra something that made his love for her certain.

There was movement behind him and Chakotay swivelled in his chair to watch his wife approach, lunch in tow. Not that her cooking was the only thing that he appreciated about her, but Chakotay was extremely grateful in that moment that Kathryn Janeway had set the limits she did on their own friendship. Now that he'd become used to it Chakotay didn't know how he could survive without Seven of Nine's cooking.

"What?" Seven was bemused by the silly grin on Chakotay's face as he watched her set out their lunch.

"What?" He shook himself from his musings and tried to remember if he'd said anything.

"You had a strange look on your face. What were you thinking about?" Seven handed her husband his cup of tea and inhaled the delicious scent of pesto ravioli with hidden delight. It had become one of her favourite meals since she'd returned to Earth and tasted the pasta dish made with fresh ingredients. A few pots of herbs followed her everywhere as a result. Chakotay and Voyager's crew teased her off and on about it.

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am." Seven didn't understand and quirked a brow. Chakotay smiled widely. "I love you."

Seven smirked as though he were very silly. "I love you too."

Setting aside his plate, Chakotay leaned forward and captured her lips with his. Gratified to see her pupils dilated when he pulled away, Chakotay couldn't help grinning once more.

"Happy first anniversary, Seven."

"Happy anniversary," Seven whispered as she leaned forward for another kiss.

The sensors beeped to indicate they could begin their landing, but Chakotay absently pressed a button to silence them and continued to show Seven just how much he loved her. Telvan IV would still be there in an hour.


End file.
